Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is a curry that "may" have been developed in the United Kingdom in the 1960s or early 1970s, but no firm history of the dish is available, and it is certainly similar to dishes from the Indian Subcontinent, namely Butter Chicken, a dish that originated in northwestern India, and one of the "stories" about the origination of Tikka Masala has it developed by a man in the UK from East Pakistan, a region that was then becoming the independent modern country of Bangladesh. I checked at least 20 recipes, and almost all included some amount of paprika, a spice and coloring agent not "commonly" found in recipes from the Subcontinent; so, that gives the possible UK origin of Tikka Masala a boost, but the dish is certainly heavily influenced by the cuisine of the Indian Subcontinent. It consistently ranks as one of the most popular dishes of all in the United Kingdom. The chicken is traditionally cooked in tandoori ovens, at least in restaurants, giving it some blackened spots and a somewhat smoky flavor, but most of us are usually confined to using a regular oven, or a good skillet, something that shan't see you banned from the Indian restaurants nearest you.  

Serve with rice and naan bread.

Ingredients:

Seasoning and tenderizing the chicken:

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
3 tablespoons Greek or Indian yogurt
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

For frying the chicken:
2 tablespoons butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil 

Sauce:

1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
2 tablespoons butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 to 2 teaspoons ground red pepper (if you have ground Kashmiri chili pepper, definitely use it, but cayenne is fine) 
1 1/2 cups pureed tomatoes (use a stick blender on some diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2/3 to 1 cup heavy cream 
fresh coriander, also known as cilantro, chopped for garnish

To a bowl, add the chicken seasoning/tenderizing ingredients, mix together well, then mix in the bite size chicken pieces to coat them. Cover the bowl, refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but 6 or 8 hours is better. Prior to cooking the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to warm a bit. Add the butter/oil to a skillet over medium heat. When the butter/oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and cook on both sides until the pieces are well browned, with some deep brown color on some pieces. Best to cook the chicken pieces on one side then use tongs to turn them to the other side. All together, this should take about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the chicken to a separate dish and set aside. Wipe the skillet of any dark residue, then add another 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and ginger, stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground cardamom and ground red pepper, stir to mix well, then add the chicken pieces (with any of the juices collected while it's been sitting), the pureed tomatoes and 1/2 cup water, stir well again, let come to a simmer. Adjust the heat downward to just maintain a steady gentle simmer for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the sauce reduces and thickens a bit. During this time, stir in the black pepper, then gradually stir in the heavy cream and the chopped coriander (cilantro). Let the mixture come back to a bare simmer, then remove it from the heat. Sprinkle each serving with a little chopped fresh coriander. Serve with rice and Indian naan bread.

     

WORD HISTORY:
Feral-This word is related to "fierce" and "ferocity," both words of Latin derivation borrowed by English via French, and to "ferocious," borrowed by English from Latin. It goes back to Indo European "gwher," which meant, "wild animal, wild beast." This gave Latin the adjective "ferus," meaning "wild, untamed, savage," from a "likely" Italic form of "feros" (wild, savage).^ This gave Latin "fera bestia," meaning, "wild animal." French took the word as "feral," meaning "wild," but why French added the "l" or "al" is unclear to me. "Perhaps" a mistaken notion that the Latin word "feralis" was a derivative of "fera" or "ferus?" But "feralis" was an adjective meaning, "having to do with death, fatal." Whatever the explanation, English borrowed the word from French circa 1600 with the meaning, "wild, untamed, undomesticated."      

^  Italic is a branch of the Indo European family of languages and includes Latin, Umbrian, Venetic, and others, most of which have died out. Latin's own limited use today is mainly because its dialects evolved into several modern languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Rumanian, Catalan, Sardinian, and several others.