Indian
Chicken Tikka Masala
Two-stage cooking: tandoor char first, masala simmer second. The yogurt marinade is not flavouring — it is a slow overnight protein denaturation that preserves moisture through the extreme heat of the grill.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
800 g
boneless chicken thighs
skin-off, cut into 5cm pieces
Your own market
200 g
full-fat yogurt
for marinade
Your own market
2 tbsp
Kashmiri chilli powder
for colour and mild heat — sub: half sweet paprika, half cayenne
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tsp
garam masala
divided — freshly ground blend if possible
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
ground cumin
Your own market
1 tsp
ground coriander
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
40 g
8 cloves
garlic
crushed to a fine paste
Your own market
3 tbsp
ghee
or neutral oil
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 large
white onion
finely sliced
Your own market
400 g
150 ml
double cream
stirred in at the end — do not boil after adding
Your own market
2 tsp
kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
crushed between palms — the defining aromatic of the masala
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1.5 tsp
salt
adjusted to taste
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Combine chicken with yogurt, 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli, 1 tsp garam masala, half the ginger, half the garlic, and 1 tsp salt. Marinate minimum 4 hours, overnight preferred.
Yogurt marinade works through lactic acid, which begins denaturing the proteins on the surface of the chicken within 2 hours, tenderising the flesh. Kashmiri chilli is chosen for its bright, fruity heat rather than the dark, earthy heat of other chilli varieties — it produces the characteristic orange-red colour. The overnight marinade allows deeper penetration of spice compounds.
From the canon — Garam masala is the crown jewel of the Indian spice pantry — a blend whose name translates simply as 'warm spice mix,' understating completely what it does t… Garam Masala (Fresh-Ground — Indian Spice Pantry) →
2
Thread on skewers or arrange on a foil-lined baking tray. Grill or broil at maximum heat (240°C) until charred at the edges, 12–15 minutes. The char is not cosmetic — it is the flavour.
The Maillard reaction that creates char requires both high heat and low moisture. The oven must be preheated to maximum temperature and the chicken surface must be relatively dry (pat off excess marinade). The pyrazines and furans created by charring contribute smoke and roasted notes that distinguish tikka from poached chicken. No tandoor substitute reaches 480°C, but maximum broiler heat achieves an adequate approximation.
3
In a heavy pan, heat ghee over medium. Cook sliced onions with a pinch of salt, 20–25 minutes until deeply golden and reduced. Do not rush.
Onions are 5% sugar by weight. When cooked slowly at medium heat, this sugar caramelises and the onions collapse to a quarter of their raw volume. The resulting paste is sweet, deeply savoury, and complex — the structural base of most North Indian curries. High heat produces a sharp, raw-sulphur flavour from incompletely broken-down allicin compounds that no amount of spice will conceal.
4
Add remaining garlic and ginger paste. Cook 2 minutes until raw smell disappears. Add remaining chilli powder, cumin, and coriander. Fry 1 minute.
The bhunao technique — stir and fry continuously in fat — requires the garlic and ginger to be cooked until their raw smell is completely gone. This means volatile sulphur compounds and terpenoids have evaporated, leaving behind sweet, caramelised aromatics. Adding spices before this point carries the raw notes forward. The 1-minute fry for ground spices blooms their fat-soluble flavour compounds into the oil.
5
Add tomatoes. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes until thick and the fat separates at the edges — this is the bhunao, the sign the masala is ready.
When the fat separates and pools around the edges of the masala, it means the tomato water has completely evaporated and the spices are now frying in oil again, not boiling in water. This creates concentrated flavour and a deep, brick-orange colour. If the masala is still simmering in liquid at 15 minutes, cook longer — the bhunao moment cannot be rushed.
6
Blend sauce until completely smooth. Return to pan, add charred chicken, simmer together 5 minutes.
Blending creates a completely emulsified, silky sauce — no individual vegetable chunks remain. The secondary 5-minute simmer with the chicken serves two purposes: it finishes the chicken through to the centre (tandoor charring only penetrates 5mm), and allows the chicken to release its juices into the sauce, enriching and thickening it.
7
Reduce heat to very low. Stir in cream, remaining garam masala, and crushed kasuri methi. Do not boil. Season to taste.
Cream added to a boiling sauce breaks — the fat separates and the sauce becomes grainy. The heat must be at a bare simmer or lower. Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) is added last because its key aromatic compound, sotolon, is highly volatile and evaporates within seconds at cooking temperatures. The palm-crush motion ruptures the leaf cells and releases more aroma at the moment of addition.
8
Serve with basmati rice or roti.
Basmati rice is washed 3 times before cooking — surface starch removal prevents the cooked grains from clumping. The absorption method (1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water) is preferred over boiling because it produces drier, more separate grains. The resting step after cooking — covered, off heat, 10 minutes — allows steam to redistribute and finish the rice without overcooking.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Chicken thighs, not breast — the fat content prevents drying under tandoor or high broiler heat.
02
Full-fat whole-milk yogurt for the marinade — low-fat splits under acid and heat.
03
Kashmiri chilli powder — the source of the orange-red colour, with heat that is present but not dominant.
04
Ghee, not oil — the flavour profile of clarified butter fat is structurally distinct and not replicable.
05
Whole spices (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper) bloomed in hot ghee before any other addition.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇The chicken surface must show carbon blistering — not brown, but black at the edges.
◇The masala should hold its shape on a tilted spoon without flowing immediately.
◇The colour: deep orange from Kashmiri chilli, not the yellow-orange that paprika produces.
◇Where it lives or dies. The char. Without black blistering from a tandoor or a very hot broiler, the tikka component is merely baked chicken. The carbon is not aesthetic — it provides the smoky bitterness that cuts through the richness of the masala and gives the dish its two-part identity.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old
Old Bushmills Distillery · County Antrim — Bushmills Distillery
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
SOV Wheated Rye Whisky
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · Metro Vancouver
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · North Vancouver →Whisky
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
GT's Living Foods · Los Angeles
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
Sourced through Provenance