Malai Chicken Tikka
When posting recipes on the blog, I usually post my favourite food group (dessert), but believe me that’s not all I eat!
This is a chicken malai tikka recipe for soft, juicy kababs on skewers that will simply melt in your mouth. Tender pieces of boneless chicken are marinated in a unique blend of yogurt, cream, cheese and spices and cooked on my trusted tefal grill pan, or you can even bake in the oven. Its the perfect recipe for an outdoor barbecue too.
If you are not allergic to nuts, I highly recommend adding in some cashew nut paste (just blitz up cashew nuts with a tiny bit of water) and adding it to the marinade. This makes for even more super duper creamy version then it already is and is how restaurants nail it every time. Just add it in to the cream and yoghurt marinating mixture.
Malai is a creamy and rich ingredient, but the word can be used to describe any food that basically melts in your mouth like butter. And that’s exactly what this chicken does. There’s actually no butter in the recipe, except for a bit that you can brush on top at the end, if you want. The creamy texture of the marinade and the juiciness of the chicken is thanks to a mixture of yogurt and heavy or whipping cream
Chicken malai tikka or murgh malai tikka (murgh – chicken, malai – cream) and barbecue parties are a match made in heaven. Always a super-duper hit with people. Bite into one tender piece and you’ll know why. Not overwhelmingly sharp or spicy, these kababs are mild and creamy with a rich taste that lingers on long after they’ve disappeared. Sound good? Heavenly, I’d say!
Pop a chutney smothered tikka into your mouth and your taste buds will be doing a happy dance! Oh, joy!
Grilling – fire up the grill or use the grill pan on the stove. Place the skewers on it. Baste with oil or butter at regular intervals. Turn over and repeat. The kababs should be cooked through and slightly charred on the surface.
Baking – Place the baking dish in a preheated oven (400 F) and bake for 15 minutes. Turn over the skewers and bake for another 20 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
½ kg boneless chicken, breast or thigh, cut into pieces
½ tsp salt
1.5 heaped tsp garlic
1 heaped tsp ginger
Juice of ½ a lemon
4 tbsp thick yoghurt
½ tsp cardamom powder
4 green chillies
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
1 large handful of coriander leaves
2 tbsp grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese
60ml heavy cream
1 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp butter, melted
METHOD
Marinate chicken with salt, garlic, ginger, and lemon. Leave this to the side for 15-20 minutes.
In a blender, blitz the yoghurt, cardamom powder, green chillies, coriander, garam masala, salt and pepper together. Taste to see if anything needs to be added.
In a bowl, mix together the double cream and cornflour. Add in the yoghurt mixture and mix well. Then mix in the chicken and grated cheese.
Cover this in cling film and leave this to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour – an overnight marinade will be really great as the chicken will be softer and tender.
Take the chicken out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking and soak the wooden skewers in water. Turn on the pan, grill or bbq.
Shake off the excess marinade from the chicken and skewer the pieces. Like I mentioned, I used the tefal pan. The details of the pan are on the highlights section on my Instagram page.
Grill the skewers for 12-15 minutes. Baste the chicken with melted butter every few minutes.
Once the skewers are cooked, serve with imli(tamarind) or green chutney and enjoy.
