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Chicken Tikka Masala - Air Fryer Recipe

Manjiri Chitnis
Make a lighter version of this hugely popular Indian dish and create your own 'fake'away with my easy to follow recipe for my homemade Chicken Tikka Masala, the air-fryer version
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Fusion Indian
Servings 2 people

Equipment

  • Air-Fryer

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 2cm pieces
  • 100 g Tikka Masala curry paste
  • 2 pots 150g size natural low-fat yoghurt
  • 1 ActiFry spoon of vegetable Oil
  • 1 Large finely chopped onion and made into a thick paste
  • 390 g canned premium chopped tomatoes made into a puree
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 1 onion gravy flavour pot - I used Knorr
  • 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
  • 150 ml of water
  • 1/2 teaspoon of sugar - I used a substitute -Natvia
  • 2 teaspoons on lemon juice
  • Salt as per taste
  • Handful - Fresh coriander leaves - chopped fine - to garnish

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl mix the Tikka Masala paste with 4 tablespoons of yoghurt. Add the chicken in the coat then cover. Leave the marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight - this will ensure the flavours have really seeped in, into the chicken
  • Heat oil in ActiFry for 2 minutes. Add the onion paste and cook for 5 minutes. I simply chopped the onion fine in my food processor and sprinkled some water to give it movement and gave it 2 spins at low speed. The result was a thick onion paste which is a much better way to use the onion in this recipe in the Actifry
  • Add the marinated chicken and cook for another 10 minutes. This ensures that the Actifry is hot enough to bruise the ends of the chicken giving it a similar treatment to what the griddle pan will. But of course, the bruising is minimal and cannot be compared to grilling the meat. But this is where the addition of smoked paprika in the chicken tikka paste plays a big role as it works with the chicken and the cooking process to impart a much better smoky effect than without
  • In a small glass bowl crush the chicken stock cube, add the onion gravy flavour pot and smoked paprika and pour 2 tbsp of hot water. With the back of a spoon mix well until a thick paste is formed
  • Add the tomato puree, the mixture with the stock and water cook for another 10 minutes. Add salt to taste but keep in mind that the chicken stock cube contains a lot of salt, so taste some of the gravy base before adding additional salt
  • Remove the CTM into a bowl and then stir in remaining yoghurt. Then add the sugar and mix well
  • Add the lemon juice mix well and top with a handful of freshly chopped coriander leaves
  • Serve with steaming hot basmati rice, jeera rice or naan
Keyword Chicken Tikka Masala