The Indian restaurants and takeaways are almost as familiar as the pubs in the streets of Britain. Plus, chicken tikka masala is perhaps one of those Indian curries that is guaranteed to please nearly everyone in the UK. It’s quite difficult to resist this flavoursome, creamy and rich dish. If you are a foodie, you will most likely fancy playing the irresistible food and fruit themed online slots at Lucky Pants Bingo. Here you can play a wide range of mouth-watering slots such as Cash Diner, Frooty Licious, Spring Break, 99 Time, Cutie Fruits, Jackpot Cherries, Wild Melon, and more.
As bizarre as it may seem, back in 2001, Robin Cook, the former Foreign Secretary brandedchicken tikka masala as a British National Dish. He even claimed that this curry has displaced the traditional fish and chips and Yorkshire pudding to become the true national dish. What’s for sure is that most people readily adopted this dish in the UK.
The history of chicken tikka masala remains a mystery for many. Although this dish has all the spices and flavour that you would expect from a traditional Indian curry, its history does not seem to be as clear as anyone would expect. There are quite a few tales about the dish that have been told over many years, and we have one of the most plausible one.
The bite size pieces of chicken are said to have originated around 5,000 years ago. This boneless chicken tikka pieces were ordered by an emperor to his Punjabi chef, as he feared choking on bones. This was cooked in the traditional oven known as tandoor, and it is how Chicken Tikka was invented. And back in 1950’s, many Indian people started emigrating to Britain. It was at that time that many Indian restaurant began to mushroom all around Britain.
The tikka masala sauce invention story is quite an odd one. It is said that in the 60’s, a British man ordered the favoured Chicken Tikka in an Indian restaurant but found it to be too dry. To appease the man, the chef poured some tomato soup along with some yogurt and spices to make it tender, and this was the beginning of chicken tikka masala. There are numerous other restaurants who claim this dish as their creation, but it’s hard to confirm any of them.
However, we do have the recipe of the chicken tikka masala, so that you can recreate this creamy textured delicacy.
- Start by combining salt, cayenne, coriander, cumin, ginger, garlic, oil and yogurt in a bowl.
- Sprinkle the boneless chicken with garam masala spice evenly and stir in the mixture.
- Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
- After an hour, heat broiler to 160 degrees and arrange the chicken on wire racks and cook for up to 20 minutes until lightly charred in extremities.
- In a pan, heat oil and fry onion until golden. Add chili, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, salt, sugar and bring to boil.
- Add the chicken to the sauce and serve warm with rice.