Chicken Tikka Recipe

Chicken Tikka, pieces of chicken marinated in yogurt, spices and cooked till tender and juicy in oven, tandoor or tawa. Chicken tikka is one of the most popular and loved chicken dish all over the world. It can be made wide by variety of methods and every time it taste amazingly juicy, any leftover chicken tikka can be made into this delicious chicken tikka masala. Learn how to make juicy chicken tikka with step by step pictures and video.

Chicken tikka

Chicken tikka is a famous dish all over India. Traditionally it is made in tandoor oven, But I made it in normal oven. It still tasted great. The main thing you should remember is the marination of the chicken. I marinated over night so the flavour went deep into the chicken. You could let it marinate upto 2 days. You could serve this as it is. But I made Chicken tikka masala with this and served it with rice. I will post it tomorrow. Hot Chicken Tikka with a squeeze of lemon juice taste like heaven. My mouth is watering went I write this post. Ok anyway here you go for the recipe.

About Chicken Tikka

Chicken Tikka Recipe with step by step pictures. Chicken pieces marinated in a yogurt, spices and cooked till tender and juicy in oven, tandoor or tawa. 

One of my all-time favourite recipes for entertaining, these chicken tikka are marinated in a tangy blend of yogurt, lemon, garlic, ginger and spices, then grilled on skewers until golden brown.

I’ve specified boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe. They’re more flavourful than chicken breasts, and easier to cook without drying out. I know some people prefer white meat but I’d urge you to try the chicken thighs — I’ve made it both ways, and it’s far superior with dark meat.

Watch Chicken Tikka Video

Chicken Tikka Ingredients

Chicken - Use boneless chicken thighs for more juicy chicken kebab. If using breast, cooking time will be less.

Yogurt - use thick yogurt for tenderizing the meat. it helps in binding as well as making the chicken moist.

Spices - blend of spices like kashmiri chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder is used. You can finish the chicken tikka with some chat masala powder as well.

Lemon - lemon penetrates into the chicken making it more moist.

Butter or Oil - finish the chicken tikka with some melted butter, ghee or oil makes it extra tasty.

Tips for Juicy Chicken Tikka

• Use boneless chicken thighs for more juicy chicken kebab.
• If you are using breast, then cook it little less.
• Don't over cook chicken else it will get dry.
• Marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours or overnight for best result.
• Bring chicken to room temperature before cooking.
• You can marinate the chicken for upto 2 days.
• Store marinated chicken in freezer upto a month. Thaw it in fridge overnight before cooking.
• You can cook this in charcoal bbq or outdoor grill too.

How to Make Chicken Tikka (Stepwise Pictures)

Marination

1)Take chicken pieces in a bowl. use boneless chicken pieces in this recipe. It is best to use chicken thigh instead of chicken breast which makes the dish more juicy.

2)Now for tenderizing the meat, add in some lemon juice. Lemon juice helps making the chicken moist and juicy.

3)Add in thick yogurt, ginger and garlic paste, oil or ghee in the bowl.

4)Add in turmeric powder, chilli powder. If you use kashmiri chilli powder you might get red colour.

5)Add in coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala powder for marination.

6)Season chicken with salt.

7)Massage the chicken really well with spices, yogurt, lemon juice. Let the chicken marinade for few hours. You can let the chicken marinate overnight in fridge.

Preparing Veggies

8)For chicken kebab, i used onions, capsicum, tomatoes for skewering along with chicken. Take tomatoes in a chopping board, remove the seeds using a spoon from the tomatoes so it doesn't leave out water.

9)Cut the tomatoes into cubes.

10)Cut capsicum or bell peppers into cubes. I used yellow, red bell peppers. You can use green peppers too.

11)Cut onions into cubes and remove the petals separately.

Skewering Chicken

12)Take metal skewers or bamboo skewers. If you are using bamboo skewers, soak it in water for few hours before cooking so the bamboo stick doesn't burn.

13)Line the baking tray with aluminium foil, place a wire rack on top of the baking tray.

14)Skewer the chicken with onions, tomatoes, peppers in the metal skewer.

Cooking Chicken Tikka

15)Drizzle little oil over the chicken skewers. You can brush the chicken with some ghee or melted butter.

Place the baking tray in a 250 degree C preheated oven and cook for 12 to 15 minutes. After 7 minutes of baking, flip the chicken once, brush with some oil or melted butter and bake again.

16)Chicken tikka is cooked. Remove it from oven and serve hot.

Chicken Tikka in Air Fryer

This is from another day when I made chicken tikka in an air fryer. I like to line the air fryer tray with foil to prevent dripping. I added some red food colour to the marinate.

The marinate is same as mentioned above. Allow the chicken to marinate for minimum 2 hours. Arrange the chicken in a tray, place the chicken in the air fryer. Bake at 220 degree C for 12 to 15 minutes. Make sure you flip them in between, brush with butter or ghee and serve.

Chicken Tikka on Stove Top

This is method of making chicken tikka on stove top in a grill pan. This is pictures from my lime coriander kebab. You can follow the same steps for cooking chicken tikka as well.

Skewer the marinated chicken in a skewer. Place it in a grill pan, you can cook in regular tawa as well. Cook on medium high heat for 5 minutes on each side, flip over carefully and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Make sure you brush top with some butter or oil.

Expert Tips

The Meat

It is best to use chicken thighs (dark meat). It has more fat and keeps the kebab moist. White meat(chicken breast) tend to get dry when cooked longer. But you can use chicken breast, but always keep an eye on the cooking time.

2)Marinating

Marinating chicken helps the chicken to absorb as much flavour as possible. So marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours. Marinate it for minimum 2 hours to maximum overnight or upto 2 days.

3)Tenderizing

There are certain ingredient which helps the chicken turn juicy. Yogurt and lemon juice adds nice tang to the chicken also the acid helps the chicken to turn juicy and moist.

4)Cooking Time

Always cook chicken tikka in a hot oven, in grill mode for lesser time. Other Recipes You Might Like    Grilled Chicken Breast    Best Grilled Chicken Ever

More Grilled Chicken Recipes

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