Chicken tikka recipe – Tandoori chicken tikka is one of the most popular chicken starter or appetizer from Indian Cuisine. It is also popular across the world. Tikka means a cube or a piece that is grilled. Chicken tikka is cubed chicken that is marinated in spiced yogurt mixture & then grilled to perfection.
The key to a mouth melting juicy, tender & succulent chicken tikka is proper marination. During the marination the chicken not only absorbs the flavors from the spices & herbs but also tenderizes naturally without the need to use any chemical tenderizers.
In restaurants usually the chicken tikka is marinated overnight or even longer. Then they are lined on to a skewer & grilled in tandoor or clay ovens.
Tandoor oven is a traditional clay oven which is used to grill foods. Chicken tikka that is grilled in a tandoor acquires a smoky aroma & enhances the flavors of the meat. Finally a bit of mustard oil is brushed over the tandoori tikkas.
I make the same restaurant style chicken tikka at home using the recipe shared in this post.
For more Indian Tandoori recipes you can check
Chicken kabab
Tandoori chicken
Tandoori chicken sandwich
Butter chicken
Chicken tikka masala
Preparation for Chicken tikka
1. Dry roast besan on a low heat until aromatic. Set aside to cool completely. Add curd, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste and all other spice powders to a plate and mix well. When the besan cools, add that as well.
2. Pour oil and mix all of them. Taste test and add more salt or spice as needed. Oil helps to tenderize the chicken when used along with yogurt or lemon juice.
3. Add the chicken that is drained completely. Make sure there is no water dripping from the chicken before you add it to the marinade.
4. Mix everything well. Set this aside for at least an hour to overnight in the fridge. If you have meat tenderizer, you can use it. But that is optional.
5. When you are about to grill them, soak the skewers for 30 minutes in water to prevent burning. Preheat the oven to 240 C. Set aside the chicken removing excess marinade. To the excess marinade add the cubed veggies. Toss them to coat the marinade well.
6. Skew them alternately – chicken , onion and capsicum. Next grill this for 10 minutes. Then brush them with the leftover marinade. Then continue to grill for another 10 to 20 until well cooked. Check them after a total of 20 mins grilling. Adjust the time as needed depending on the size of your chicken pieces. To brown the chicken, move them to the top rack to broil for another 2 to 3 mins.
Once removed, brush them with butter or mustard oil. Sprinkle chaat masala if desired. Serve chicken tikka with mint raita.
Tips to make chicken tikka at home
You can make the best chicken tikka at home either using a oven or on a tawa. Here are the tips.
1.Using thick curd aka hung curd or greek yogurt is the key to make good tikkas. Whey in yogurt will ruin the tikkas so you can follow this recipe of hung curd to make it at home.
2. Do not skip gram flour or besan from the recipe as it is the key to make the tikkas aromatic. I have used besan directly in the marinade. However you can dry roast or fry the besan in oil until aromatic, cool & add it to the marinade. This enhances the taste a bit.
3. I do not use food color to make my food any time. For a good color, do use a good quality red chilli powder or paprika powder for a vibrant color. I use kashmiri or byadgi chilli powder.
4. Adding too much of garam masala or spice powder, leaves a bitter taste. So adjust the quantity slightly to suit the taste but do not use a lot.
5. Well marinated chicken turn out to be flavorful, tender & succulent without drying out so marinate over night if possible.
6.If you like the smoky aroma of grilled foods, then you can smoke the chicken tikka with char coal. You can check the notes for more details.
Related Recipes
Chicken tikka
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 500 grams chicken boneless & cubed
- 1½ tablespoon gram flour or besan
- ½ cup curd or yogurt or greek yogurt
- ½ green bell pepper
- ½ red bell pepper or tomatoes (deseeded)
- 1 large onion cubed
- Salt as needed
- 1 tablespoon oil preferably mustard oil
- 1 to 2 tablespoon lemon juice (or as needed)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste or grated
Spice powders
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon red chilli powder or paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper powder
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ tablespoon kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves (optional)
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
For serving
- 1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or mustard oil
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala
Instructions
Preparation for chicken tikka
- Dry roast besan on a low heat until aromatic. Cool this completely.
- This recipe needs thick curd or greek yogurt. If using homemade yogurt then follow the notes & strain the whey to get thick yogurt.
- Add it to a mixing bowl along with roasted besan, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, pepper powder, turmeric, kasuri methi, garam masala & coriander powder.
- Next add lemon juice, salt & oil. Mix everything well and taste it. Add more chilli powder, salt or lemon if needed to adjust the taste.
- Add the cubed chicken to the marinade. Marinate the chicken for at least an hour to 12 hours. Longer the chicken rests more flavorful & succulent it will turn out. You will have to refrigerate if marinating for longer than an hour.
How to make chicken tikka
- Prepare a baking tray with a foil lined over it. Then place a rack over it.
- Cube the veggies and add it to the marinade. Smear the marinade over it. Put them on to skewers, alternating veggies and chicken. Place these over the prepared tray.
- Preheat the oven to 240 C for at least 15 minutes. Grill chicken tikka for 10 mins. Then brush them with the leftover marinade and continue grilling for another 10 to 20 mins till fully done. I suggest checking after total 20 mins. This depends on the size of your chicken pieces and how tender it is.
- The last 3 to 4 mins, move the chicken to the top rack. Once done brush them generously with butter or mustard oil. Serve chicken tikka with some veggies as a appetizer. Sprinkle chaat masala if desired.
Notes
- Coriander powder is used to bring down the spice levels in garam masala, use it if your garam masala is pungent or very strong.
- For a restaurant smoky flavor, just burn a char coal until hot & red. Then place it in a small bowl. Keep this in the pan. Add a tsp of ghee to it over it. Then it will begin to smoke immediately. Cover and smoke the chicken tikka for 5 mins.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Babu says
This is the most easy way to learn. Very simple to make and very testy to eat. You work a lot to make it easier to learn . Thank you very much.
swasthi says
Welcome Babu
Glad to know you liked it.
Babu says
This is the most easy way to learn. Very simple to make and very testy to eat
swasthi says
Thank you
Sowmi says
Completely awesome work swasthi….I can understand how much effort you would have put in it….step by step clicks are really helpful…it is a one stop for all chicken recipes 🙂 🙂
swasthi says
Hi Sowmi,
Thanks a lot for the compliments. Yes it takes lot of time and have to be patient enough.
Thanks again. Have a nice day
🙂
SMRITI DEY says
I want your recipe book. Thank u for share this recipe
swasthi says
Welcome Smriti,
I haven’t made any recipe book yet.
thanks for the feedback
🙂
Amila Wickramarachchi says
Came across this recipe when I was searching for it.Thanks for sharing and this look so yummy.And thanks for the idea of using red chili powder or paprika instead of red coloring.
swasthi says
Welcome Amila,
Happy to see you here. Hope you are good. Do share with us how it turned out if you try. Thank you
ria says
Yum came out excellent
Ana says
I agree
swasthi says
Thank you
marina says
hi swasthi,
can i pan fry the tikkas…
marina
swasthi says
Hi Marina,
If you are pan frying, then marinating for at least 8 hours is needed otherwise they may not be soft.
I make tawa chicken tikka for making chicken tikka masala gravy. Check it here, it may help you
marina says
thanks for your reply swasthi ..
Sakthi's Special says
Looks yummy & tempting your Chicken Tikka Masala 🙂
Arthy Suman says
I have never made chicken tikka before lovely preparation….
Amrita Vishal says
You should be charged with a food crime for those lovely pics!! Loved it
Revathi says
delicious one…neat clicks
Sanoli Ghosh says
Omg! I am drooling over here…fabulous chicken tikka. Would like to grab those now.
kausers kitchen says
OMG! that is so tempting…drooling here.
Sireesha Puppala says
Made this today:) urs look fiery 🙂
llimaverda says
me encanta como cocinas el pollo, todo delicioso, bsts
divya says
Looks so yum…makes me feel hungry…super clicks tooo..
Helen Prabha says
So yummy yummy…. 🙂
Asiya Omar says
Looks amazing!
Divya Pramil says
Ah looks so delightful, wish i could grab a stick from the clicks 🙂
faiza kader says
tikka romba super ra iruku.. appadiye sapidanum pola iruku..
Gauri says
This is seriously mouthwatering, I would love to have all of them!