Chicken Tikka Masala

The Best Chicken Tikka Masala

I know that everyone thinks they have the “Best” Chicken Tikka Masala recipe but most of these food bloggers are cutting corners and they’re not honoring the full recipe. Simple and easy recipes usually means that your not getting all of the flavor you could be enjoying if you put in just a little more love and finesse. There are a ton of ingredients in this recipe. In fact, probably the most I’ve ever published to date but after enjoying some Authentic Indian cuisine, Valentines Day, I decided this wasn’t a recipe I was going to cheat. So I got to work on it, immediately, and I shopped around until I found all of the ingredients I needed to make the Best Chicken Tikka Masala recipe.

Chicken Tikka Masala Seasoning

The most common ingredient in Chicken Tikka Masala is Garam Masala. Though, you can buy it as one seasoning, it’s really a combination of several other ingredients indigenous to India. Ironically, though, Chicken Tikka comes from India, the Masala recipe was created in England for locals that preferred a gravy with their Chicken Tikka and rice. So if you put the two together, you now have Chicken Tikka Masala and they both have the Garam Masala seasoning in them.

Other Ingredients in this recipe include Cardamom powder, which I have seen used as green and black seeds in recipes that use a blender and a sieve to strain the sauce. Also Fenugreek Leaves are usually used but I could only find the powder. I think everything else is more commonly known, like Cumin, Tumeric, Red Chili Powder(which shouldn’t be taken lightly), Coriander, Cinnamon and Clove.

The Chicken Tikka Masala Marinade

In the video tutorial, I show you how to make the Chicken Tikka Masala Marinade and this can be used the exact same way to prepare either chicken or shrimp. Again, the Garam Masala is used for marinating but the easiest way to add in all of the other ingredients is to just mix them altogether from the start, then add spoon fulls to both the marinade and the Masala, separately. The Seasoning recipe below provides you with enough spice to have a little left over, which is great on steaks, roasts and seafood. Also, the marinade calls for Curd or plain Yogurt. Use which ever is available to you. I went deep with it and bought Greek. On a side note, instead of Heavy Whipping Cream, I also bought Crema or Table Cream from the Mexican Food section in my dairy.

If you’re interested in trying my Plain or Garlic Naan recipe, to go along with this dish, I highly recommend it. I also make a mean Curry Chicken Salad!

Chicken Tikka Masala Ingredients:

1 lbs Chicken or Shrimp

1 tbsp Garlic, chopped
1 tbsp Ginger, chopped
1/4 cup Curd or Plain Yogurt
1 cup Table Cream or Heavy Whipping
4 cups Tomato Puree
1/2 Red Onion Chopped
1 bunch Coriander Leaves, chopped
1 Lemon, squeezed
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Olive Oil, for cooking
1/2 tsp Salt

Seasoning
2 tbsp Garam Masala
1 to 2 tbsp Red Chili Powder, to taste(spicy)
2 tbsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Tumeric Powder
2 tbsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Fenugreek Powder or Leaves(preferred)
1 tbsp Cardamom Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/2 tsp Clove, ground

Salt and Pepper to Taste

I use half of the garlic and ginger, all of the curd/yogurt, lemon juice, salt, and 2 heaping tbsp’s of the seasoning mix to marinade the chicken or shrimp. I use approximately 4 heaping tbsp of the seasoning mix for the sauce but you need to play that by ear and adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Just be sure to watch the short video tutorial so that you can see exactly how to make this Chicken Tikka Masala.

Mac and Cheese with Shrimp

The Best Mac and Cheese has Shrimp

I love this Mac and Cheese recipe and I’m not one to ever order Macaroni and Cheese at any restaurant, either. Not because I don’t like it. I just don’t think that most restaurants, especially the major chains, make a quality dish. So I put together a Cheese Sauce that has a real nice balance of flavor and adding shrimp helps bring out a nice seafood stock kind of taste. Lobster would be a fantastic alternative, if you’d like to step it up, but you don’t have to add any seafood to this dish at all if you’re not into shell fish. The other ingredients, listed down below, make one of the best Mac ‘N Cheese sauces on the planet.

My Mac and Cheese Secret

Most Mac and Cheese recipes use Milk, Flour and Cheddar Cheese but I don’t use any of those and I’ll tell you why. Milk makes the sauce thin. That’s why the flour is needed and I think it makes the sauce taste bland and chalky. The Cheddar Cheese keeps it simple, whether you use sharp, medium or mild. Simple may be fine in some kitchens and if that’s all you’ve got, by all means, use it but keeping it simple means it tastes simple. I know that some recipes are great when they’re simple. But if you’re able to trick it up a bit by adding a variety of different cheese, why not control the outcome with perfect balance for your specific tastes. That’s why I use Colby Jack, Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese.

Mac and Cheese with Shrimp Ingredients:

8 oz Pasta, cooked
1 1/2 doz Shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp butter
1 Garlic Clove, chopped
1 1/2 cup Half & Half
1 tsp Bouillon, Tomato/Chicken or Beef
1 tsp Oregano, dried
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 cup Colby Jack cheese
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients
1 Green Onion, chopped
2 tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped
3 Bacon Strips, cooked

Watch and follow the Mac and Cheese with Shrimp Video Tutorial for specific directions about making this recipe.

Tempura Lobster Tails with Dipping Sauce

Awesome Lobster Tails

If you thought Shrimp Tempura was good, you’re going to go out of your mind with this Lobster Tails recipe. Especially if you your a fan of good Tempura because you’ve got the best of both worlds right here. As you may or may not know, Prawns and Lobsters are in the same crustacean family, only Lobster’s are generally much larger. So, from my perspective, bigger is better and I show you how to make Perfect Tempura Batter, in one of my older posts, and take you straight to one of the best appetizers ever invented.

What size Lobster Tails to use

I’ve been seeing 4 to 6 oz Lobster Tails on sale in just about every grocery store that has a seafood department for only about $5 bucks a piece, lately. So you really can’t go wrong with that kind of deal if you want to give this a try sometime. Really you can use just about any size you want. You’ll just have to adjust the cooking time if you get any thicker than what I’m recommending here for this Tempura recipe. Just be sure you buy enough Lobster Tails because these things are so delicious and they go down fast.

Check out my other Lobster recipes:
Stuffed Lobster, Steak House style Lobster Tail, Lobster Ravioli Sauce,
Lobster Bisque, Red Lobster Crab Cakes, Poor Man’s Lobster

Tempura Lobster Tails Ingredients:

2 Lobster tails, pealed and de-veined
Pinch of Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Tempura Batter
1 egg yoke
1 cup Tonic or Seltzer Water, Carbonated is the key
1 cup Flour

Dipping Sauce
1 teaspoon Hoisin Sauce
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Black Bean Sauce
1/4 cup Orange Chili Sauce

Cook and submerge your Tempura Lobsters in Oil for approximately 5 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.