CHICKEN TIKKA

• servings: 6
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 4 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or use boneless, skinless thighs if you like)

sliced red onion

tomato

coriander leaves, for serving

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp coriander seeds

2 whole cloves

½ tsp black peppercorns

½ tsp ground fenugreek

1½ tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp ground paprika

½ tsp hot chilli powder

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp flaked sea salt

2 garlic cloves, crushed

20g chunk of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated

4 tbsp plain natural yoghurt

Directions

Put the cumin and coriander seeds, cloves and black peppercorns in a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes, until lightly toasted - you know they're ready when you can smell their spicy aroma. Tip them into a pestle and mortar or an electric spice grinder. Add the fenugreek, turmeric, paprika, chilli powder, cinnamon and salt to the warm spices and grind them all into a fine powder.

Tip the ground spices into a mixing bowl and stir in the garlic, ginger and yoghurt. Mix thoroughly and leave this to stand while you get on with preparing the chicken.

Cut each chicken breast into 7 or 8 bite-sized pieces. Stir them into the spiced yoghurt, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.

Take the chicken pieces out of the fridge and thread them on to long metal skewers, leaving 1-2cm between each piece. You should be able to fit about 6 chunks of chicken on each skewer.

Preheat the grill to its hottest setting and place the skewers on a rack over a grill pan lined with foil. Slide the pan on to a shelf as close as possible to the heat and cook the chicken for 5 minutes. Holding the hot skewers with an oven cloth, turn each one and cook on the other side for a further 4-5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and lightly charred.

Use a fork to slide the chicken tikka chunks off the skewers and serve with fresh red onion and tomato slices and some chopped coriander. A yoghurt dip is also good with tikka, or serve with some lemon wedges to squeeze over the chicken. If you're saving some of the tikka to eat cold, allow the chicken to cool, then cover it with cling film and keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.

TOP TIP

Use 4 duck breasts instead of the chicken if you like. Remove the skin before cutting into chunks. Cook under the grill for 3 minutes on one side and 2-3 minutes on the other until nicely charred on the outside and hot and juicy in the centre.

Notes

Everyone loves chicken tilka, which is like a kind of kebab made of marinated meat threaded on to skewers. A popular takeaway dish, this is really easy to make at home. It's great served cold too, so make a double batch and enjoy the rest the next day - perfect for taking on a picnic. Serves 6

TOP TIP

Use 4 duck breasts instead of the chicken if you like. Remove the skin before cutting into chunks. Cook under the grill for 3 minutes on one side and 2-3 minutes on the other until nicely charred on the outside and hot and juicy in the centre.