Tandoori Chicken Tikka
By: miansari66
Published: Monday, November 30, 2009 - 12:35pm

Ingredients




450 g/1 lb. boneless, skinned chicken breast
1 teaspoon salt
Juice of ½ a lemon
1/2 teaspoon tandoori color or a few drops of red food coloring mixed with 1 tbsp. 2 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
½-inch cube of root ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice or garam masala
1/4 of a whole nutmeg, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
125 g/5 oz. thick set natural yogurt
4 tablespoons corn or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Preparation

1 Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt from the specified amount, and the lemon juice. Mix thoroughly. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes. 2 Put the rest of the ingredients into an electric food processor or liquidiser and blend until smooth. Put this marinade into a sieve and hold the sieve over the chicken pieces. Press the marinade through the sieve with the back of a metal spoon until only a very coarse mixture is left. 3 Coat the chicken thoroughly with the sieved marinade. Cover the container and leave to marinate for 6-8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. 4 Preheat oven to 230 degrees C/450 degrees F/Gas Mark 8. Line a roasting tin with aluminum foil (this will help to maintain the high level of temperature required to cook the chicken quickly without drying it out). 5 Thread the chicken onto skewers, leaving 1/4-inch gap between each piece (this is necessary for the heat to reach all sides of the chicken). 6 Place the skewers in the prepared roasting tin and brush with some of the remaining marinade. Cook in the center of the oven for 6-8 minutes. 7 Take the tin out of the oven, turn the skewers over and brush the pieces of chicken with the remaining marinade. Return the tin to the oven and cook for a further 6-8 minutes. 8 Shake off any excess liquid from the chicken. (Strain the excess liquid and keep aside for Chicken Tikka Masala). Place the skewers on a serving dish. You may take the tikka off the skewers if you wish, but allow the meat to cool slightly before removing from the skewers.