Chicken Tiki Masala ~ Instant Pot

Chicken Tiki Masala

Six Servings.

Ingredients:

Marinate the chicken:

1 ½ pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs (breast or thighs), cut into large pieces

½ cups Full-Fat Greek Yogurt

4 cloves Garlic minced

2 teaspoons Minced Ginger minced

½ teaspoon Turmeric

¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika for color and a slightly smokey taste

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (omit if unavailable)

For the Sauce:

1 Onion chopped

1 14-ounce Canned Tomatoes

1 carrot chopped

5 cloves Garlic minced

2 teaspoon Minced Ginger minced

1 teaspoon Turmeric

½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika

1-2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

2 teaspoons Garam Masala

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

To Finish:

4 ounce Half and Half (use full-fat coconut milk if dairy free)

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

¼-1/2 cup Cilantro chopped

Directions:

Marinate the boneless, skinless chicken thighs with full-fat Greek Yogurt (or full-fat coconut milk if you are dairy-free), minced garlic, minced ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper (Indian chili powder), smoked paprika, salt, garam masala, and liquid smoke if using. If you do not have yogurt, you can also use full-fat cream.Make sure to beat and blend the plain yogurt well so it doesn't separate later. This will create a thick paste to coat the chicken thighs in. Let it rest for 1-2 hours if possible.

Place sauce ingredients into the Instant Pot. Place the chicken with the yogurt on top of the sauce.

Cook at High Pressure for 10 minutes and release pressure quickly.

Remove chicken and either set aside, broil, or put in your air fryer to brown, as you choose.

Meanwhile using an immersion blender, purée the sauce well.

Add 1/2 cup of half and half, cream, or coconut milk and stir well.

Remove half the sauce and freeze for later.
Put chicken back into the remaining sauce, mix in the garam masala, garnish with cilantro and serve.

Tips And Tricks For Making Chicken Tikka Masala
The spices for marinating and for the sauce are almost the same. The marinade takes half the spice the sauce does.

To be efficient, put the sauce ingredients in the Instant Pot, and the raw chicken in a bowl. As you add turmeric to the marinade, add twice that amount of turmeric to the onion and tomato sauce as well.
Please note that a few readers who used 8 quart Instant Pots had the BURN message with a single batch of this, but not a double batch. The same readers were able to make this without the BURN message.

If you have an 8 quart, either double this recipe or use 1/2 to 1/4 cup of water to add to the chicken and vegetables.

You can make this recipe with skinless chicken breasts if you prefer.

You'll see jars of this sauce with the Indian cuisine in the grocery store. Skip those and make this sauce instead. It's worth the extra effort.

If you don't like your food spicy, reduce or omit the cayenne pepper to reduce the heat.

My recipe for Homemade Garam masala is made with cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, and a host of other delicious things. You should try making it instead of using store-bought.

There's no reason you can't use leftover tikka masala sauce with leftover grilled chicken. Just throw it in a skillet with a tiny bit of oil and saute to reheat and enjoy chicken tikka masala a second time.

Easy Chicken Tikka Masala

Easy Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients

For the Marinade:
1 pound chicken boneless, skinless chicken

    thighs, cubed
2 1/2 tablespoons plain, Greek yogurt
1 small lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garam masala (Indian spice 

    found at supermarket)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
For the Masala:
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 large white onion, diced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup of water
2-4 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon garam masala, divided
salt, to taste
cilantro, garnish

*

Directions:
Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Mix and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

In a large sauté pan, heat oil and butter over medium heat (the oil raises the burning temperature of the butter) and add the diced onion, salt, cinnamon stick and 1 teaspoon garam masala.

Cook until onion is translucent and lightly browned, and spices are fragrant.

Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add 1 more teaspoon garam masala, tomatoes and tomato paste, and cook until sauce has thickened and reduced slightly.

Take marinated cubed chicken out of the fridge (if you have not already done so) and add it to the sauce. Cook until the outsides are no longer pink and chicken is almost cooked through.

Pour in remaining garam masal, brown sugar, and enough water that chicken is completely covered.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes. Chicken should be cooked through and very tender. 

Remove cinnamon stick.

Turning heat down to low, simmer the mixture and add in heavy cream. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot, with basmati rice or naan.