P
Indian
Malai Tikka — Cream-Marinated Chicken Tikka (मलाई टिक्का)
Malai tikka (मलाई टिक्का — 'cream tikka') is the white, delicate counterpart to the vivid red tandoori chicken: chicken breast pieces marinated in a cream, cream cheese, cashew paste, and white spice blend (white pepper, cardamom, mace, nutmeg) that produces a pale, ivory-coloured, intensely rich and mild tikka without any chilli colour or heat. The technique requires a different temperature management in the tandoor — malai tikka must cook at a slightly lower temperature to prevent the cream from scorching to brown; the characteristic finish is a pale gold with no visible char.
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I
The Market List
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800 g
chicken breast
cut into 50 g even pieces
Your own market
For the marinade
200 g
hung yoghurt
strained for 12 hours until thick and dry
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 ml
double cream
Your own market
80 g
cream cheese
processed variety (Amul in India; strained ricotta as substitute)
Your own market
60 g
raw cashews
soaked overnight, drained, blended to a completely smooth paste
Origin · IndiaNot yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
white pepper
freshly ground
Your own market
½ tsp
ground cardamom
Your own market
¼ tsp
ground mace
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
¼ tsp
ground nutmeg
freshly grated preferred
Your own market
To serve
1 quantity
mint chutney
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
cucumber
sliced
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Soak the cashews overnight in cold water, so that they soften all the way through and blend without leaving gritty flecks that would roughen the finished coating. Drain and blend with a small quantity of cream to a completely smooth, silky paste — no graininess should be perceptible between the fingers.
2
Combine the hung yoghurt, double cream, cream cheese, and cashew paste in a bowl and work together until uniform. Add the white pepper, cardamom, mace, and nutmeg — no red chilli and no turmeric are to be added at any stage, so that the pale ivory colour that defines the dish is preserved. The marinade should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and hold on a vertical surface without running.
From the canon — Turmeric (हल्दी, haldi — Curcuma longa) is the most universally used spice in Indian cooking: the yellow-orange rhizome whose primary active compound (curcum… Turmeric — Fresh vs Dried in Indian Cooking (हल्दी) →
3
Add the chicken pieces to the marinade and turn to coat thoroughly, pressing the marinade against every cut surface so it has something to grip rather than slide off. If it pools at the base of the bowl instead of clinging, the yoghurt was insufficiently strained and should be hung again before proceeding. Refrigerate for a minimum of four hours.
4
Thread the marinated chicken onto skewers. This is where the dish lives or dies: bring the tandoor or oven to 350–380 °C — not the 450 °C used for red tikkas — because cream fat scorches to brown at high heat before the interior is cooked through, and once the surface colours it cannot be undone. A grill or high oven may be used, but the temperature ceiling must be observed.
5
Cook the skewers for 8–10 minutes, turning once, until the exterior is pale gold with no visible char and the surface is just set and lightly yielding to the touch. Press the thickest piece — it should offer slight resistance with no softness at the centre, telling you the interior is fully cooked through.
6
Serve immediately, so the cream marinade does not firm and tighten as it cools. Arrange with mint chutney and sliced cucumber alongside — the chutney and cucumber are not garnish; they balance the richness of the cream coating.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Hung yoghurt strained a full 12 hours from full-fat dairy; cashews soaked overnight and blended to absolute smoothness; processed cream cheese of the Amul type; spices freshly ground from whole.
02
Estate — Hung yoghurt strained 8 hours; cashew paste blended twice for texture; good-quality block cream cheese; pre-ground white pepper from a reliable spice merchant.
03
Market — Commercially strained labneh in place of hung yoghurt; strained ricotta substituted for cream cheese; cashew butter thinned with cream as an approximate paste.
04
House — Regular yoghurt reduced by draining for two hours only — the marinade will be thinner and adhesion will suffer; ground almonds substituted for cashew paste; pre-ground spice blends used throughout.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The marinade is ivory-white and holds on a vertical surface without running — proof the yoghurt was sufficiently strained.
◇Sight. The finished tikka is pale gold across the surface with no char and no brown scorching — the temperature was correctly held.
◇Touch. The thickest piece yields slight resistance when pressed with a finger; no softness at the centre indicates full cooking.
◇Smell. The aroma at the tandoor is of warm cream and white spice — cardamom and mace — not of scorched fat or caramelised protein.
◇Where it lives or dies. The tandoor temperature must not exceed 380 °C: the cream-based marinade scorches to brown before the interior is cooked at higher heat, destroying both the pale ivory colour and the delicate texture that define the dish.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
SOV Wheated Rye Whisky
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · Metro Vancouver
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · North Vancouver →Whisky
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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