Chicken Tikka Masala… Indian food or English meal?

What do you get when you combine hot and delicious Indian food with the English love of tomatoes and all the creamy stuff? Chicken Tikka Masala is the answer. This is a marinated piece of meat cooked in a tandoor, an Indian oven made of clay and powered by coal. Masala is gravy frequently made out of some sort of tomato puree with cream and a mixture of different Indian spices depending on the region or family. It is technically a moderate curry meal, and the addition of big quantities of tartrazine causes the dish to often look orange. In some recipes, it can look anything from red to orange to green. In most Indian food restaurants in America, it is usually orange. Regardless of the color, Chicken Tikka is always delicious! 

Chicken Tikka Masala:

Is potentially the most popular Indian meal worldwide. Most Indian food delivery services in America take Chicken Tikka to hundreds of homes every day. There’s also some restaurants that sell Chicken Tikka sandwiches and some other creations that include this wonderful and flavorful chicken.  Chicken Tikka is so popular that it even has a musical written singing its praises.

Most people think about Chicken Tikka Masala as an Indian dish, but as we mention at the beginning of this article, it doesn’t come from India. Some people even describe this dish as “a true British national dish,” mentioning its mix of genuine Indian cooking with the British desire to have their meat served with tasty gravy.

In some cases, people marinate the chicken overnight in yogurt, ginger, garlic, cardamom powder, cumin, white pepper, and other spices. The chicken is cooked in the hot tandoor and is then served with the Masala sauce made from tomato, ginger, garlic, cream, green and red pepper, and a selection of spices. The sauce is poured over the chicken after it is cooked. In contrast to tandoori chicken, on which it is based, the taste is velvety and mild, instead of spicy.

Chicken Tikka Masala an Indian food?

While the response is unclear I strongly recommend you to try it out in all its different versions. It is a wholesome and healthy meal full of flavors and aromas. If you look online you can find tons of different recipes that you can achieve with the spices available in your region. Chicken Tikka has actually been adapted to its consumers, so you can imagine there’s a wide variety of options.  It is served in practically every Indian restaurant, an indicator that Indians have accepted it as their own and you can also find it in a lot of English establishments. If you want to try this delicious chicken without worrying about finding the right recipe for you, you can always order from our website, we prepare one of the best ones in the area and also do food delivery so you don’t even have to leave your house. 

Shalimar: always looking to provide the best indian cuisine experience