CHICKEN TIKKA

Chicken Tikka or Chicken Kebab is a delicious and flavorful, easy to make Indian dish, where the chicken is first marinated in aromatic spice mixture and then grilled on skewers to perfection. I bet this will be one of the best chicken recipes you will try.

Vegetarian Chicken Tikka or Chicken Kebab or Skewers

My mouth is watering as I am writing this post. So you can guess how tasty the dish is. For vegetarians, don’t get disappointed.

For meatless or vegetarian tikka,  follow the same recipe and substitute chicken with paneer to prepare the best paneer tikka ever or even with mushroom, babycorn, cauliflower (gobi), potatoes or even tofu.

The taste and the aromatic flavor and the ease of cooking makes this dish one of the most popular Indian recipes.

What is chicken tikka ?

For those who are new to this dish, tikka means chunks of chicken marinated and cooked on skewers using Indian spices. The spices that goes into this dish is available in any Indian store and these days I see it even in Big stores like Walmart, Target, and Kroger.

What is difference between chicken tikka and chicken tikka masala?

Chicken tikka is a dry item served as side or starter or appetizer, where the marinated chicken in Indian spices are grilled to perfection on bbq (tandoor) or stovetop or oven.

Chicken tikka masala has more spices along with the chicken tikka, thus making it more hot and spicier. It is a gravy or curry based that can be served as entrée or main dish with Indian bread like naan or roti.

Secret to make the best and perfect chicken tikka or kebab or tandoor chicken

The key in the dish is marinating the chicken and the broil time within the oven. When broiled, the chicken should develop uniform dark spots at the end of cooking, this is the signature of the yummiest tikkas.

Tikkas taste the best when its spicy. Depending on the heat (spice level) you can tolerate adjust the amount of green chilies and red chile powder in the recipe below. I have used coriander seeds and cumin seeds. If you find it difficult to get the seeds you can substitute it with cumin powder and coriander powder.

How long should one marinate the chicken?

For maximum flavor, I would say overnight. But if you decide to make it all of a sudden or cannot resist to taste the dish, marinate at least for 1 hour and use thighs in this case.

You can serve the tikka with mint chutney over a bed of rice or along with any naan or roti. You can even build on this recipe and make chicken tikka masala. I will soon share the recipe for the same. So stay tuned.

Which works best for tikka – chicken thighs or chicken breasts?

Both works equally good but I generally prefer using thighs over breasts as I love it and the end result is amazing. The more juicer will be the chicken plus additional plus point is marination for thighs is less compared to breasts. If you want to prepare this dish as quickly as possible even for your weeknight dinner, then use chicken thighs.

If using chicken breasts for health reasons make sure marinate it a little longer. Overnight would give you the best results.

SOME OF THE BEST POPULAR CHICKEN RECIPES TO MAKE AT HOME

• Orange chicken
• Butter chicken –  best and popular recipe
• Satay Chicken
• Cranberry chicken
• chicken tikka biryani
• tandoori style grilled chicken
• chicken kali mirch
• easy chicken biryani 
• tandoori chicken wings
• spicy sriracha chicken wings

Follow me on Instagram and tag me with #cookwithkushi so that I get a chance to see all the recipes you make and give it a  ♥

Detailed Recipe for Chicken Tikka or Chicken Kebab or Tandoori Chicken

5 from 28 votes

Print

BEST CHICKEN TIKKA | CHICKEN KEBAB | GRILLED TANDOORI CHICKEN SKEWERS

Prep Time

11 mins

Cook Time

14 mins

Resting time for marination

2 hrs

Total Time

2 hrs 25 mins

 

Chicken Tikka is a delicious and flavorful, easy to make Indian dish, where the chicken is first marinated in aromatic spice mixture and then grilled on skewers to perfection. I bet this will be one of the best chicken recipes you will try. This tikka can be prepared on oven, grill or on stovetop.

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine: Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani

Keyword: chicken curry, Chicken Kebab, chicken thighs, chicken tikka marinade, dhaba style, easy paneer recipes, Grill recipes, indian chicken recipes, Indian Recipes, naan and curry, Paneer Tikka, popular Indian recipes, Restaurant Style, slow cooker chicken tikka, tandoori chicken, Tikka kebab, Tikka Masala

Servings: 8

Author: Kushi

Ingredients

• 4 Chicken Thighs, cut into at least 32 cubes or more.
• 2 Red onions, large cubes
• 4 Tomatoes, large cubes
• 2 Green bell pepper/Capsicum, large cubes

For the Marinade

• 3/4 cup Water
• 2 tbsp Coriander seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 8-10 Garlic cloves
• 1 inch Ginger
• 2 to 4 Green chillies, small (check tips)
• 2 to 4 tbsp Sour cream or Yogurt (check tips)
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (check tips)
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice (optional)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 4 tbsp Oil for basting/brushing, optional

Instructions

Step I

1. Grind all ingredients listed under "For the Marinade" into to smooth paste using a blender.

2. Transfer the above marinade to a bowl, and add chopped chicken thighs and mix well. Let it rest for couple of hours in refrigerator. I keep it overnight as it tastes the best.

Step II

1. Preheat the oven to 500F.

2. Skewer the marinated chicken and chopped veggies onto the skewers. I have used eight 12-inch skewers. I typically start with onion, followed by green bell pepper, tomato, onion, and chicken. I repeat this four times on each skewer.

3. Place the prepared skewers onto a 9 by 13 inch pan across the shorter edge. This ensures we have sufficient heat circulation around the skewers, and all the drippings are caught in the pan making for easy cleanup.

4. Once the oven is preheated, change to broil mode. Brush the surface of the chicken with some oil and transfer it to the ove. Broil on the highest setting available in your oven (approx 4 to 6 inches from the heating element)

5. The total broil time is about 14 to 16 minutes or till the chicken is cooked through. Flip the skewers half way through the cooking time and quickly brush more oil if required. This ensures the tikkas develop uniform dark spots that is signature of the yummiest tikkas.

6. Chicken Tikka is now ready. Serve tikkas over a bed or rice or over naan or as a side with drinks and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

• If you do not have an oven, you can prepare chicken tikka on a stove top. For this heat a non stick pan on medium heat, add 2 tbsp of oil . Once the oil is hot add chicken (in two batches) to the pan and leave it undisturbed for 8 minutes, and then flip and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes.
• In the stove top method you can skip adding vegetables, or if you prefer you can saute them in a similar fashion as described above.
• Adjust the amount of red chile powder as per your taste.
• Depending on the spiciness of the green chilies, vary it in the recipe. Feel free to add jalapenos or even Serrano pepper. 
• You can also substitute coriander seeds and cumin seeds with ground coriander powder and cumin powder. 
• Vary all the spices as per your taste. 
• Yogurt or Sour cream or Buttermilk or Curd tenderizes the meat as result of which cooked meat is juicier and can be easily pulled part by hand. 

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Ingredients for Chicken Tikka

• 4 Chicken Thighs, cut into at least 32 cubes or more.
• 2 Red onions, large cubes
• 4 Tomatoes, large cubes
• 2 Green bell pepper/Capsicum, large cubes

Marinade

• 3/4 cup Water
• 2 tbsp Coriander seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 8-10 Garlic cloves
• 1 inch Ginger
• 6 Green chillies
• 2 tbsp Sour cream
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 4 tbsp Oil for basting/brushing, optional

Steps to prepare Chicken Tikka

Step I

1. Grind all ingredients listed under marinade into to smooth paste using a blender.
2. Transfer the above marinade to a bowl, and add chopped chicken thighs and mix well. Let it rest for couple of hours in refrigerator. I keep it overnight as it tastes the best. 

Step II

1. Preheat the oven to 500F.
2. Skewer the marinated chicken and chopped veggies onto the skewers. I have used eights 12-inch skewers. I typically start with onion, followed by green bell pepper, tomato, onion, and chicken. I repeat this for four times on each skewer.
3. Place the prepared skewers onto a 9 by 13 inch pan across the shorter edge. This ensures we have sufficient heat circulation around the skewers, and all the drippings are caught in the pan making for easy cleanup.
4. Once the oven is preheated, change to broil mode. Brush the surface of the chicken with some oil and transfer it to the over. Broil on the highest setting available in your oven (approx 4 to 6 inches from the heating element.
5. The total broil time is about 14 to 16 minutes till the chicken is cooked through. Flip the skewers half way through the cooking time and quickly brush more oil if required. This ensures the tikkas develop uniform dark spots that is signature of the yummiest tikkas.
6. Serve tikkas over a bed or rice or over naan or as is as a side with drinks and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

• If you do not have an oven, you can prepare chicken tikka on a stove top. For this heat a non stick pan on medium heat, add 2 tbsp of oil . Once the oil is hot add chicken (in two batches) to the pan and leave it undisturbed for 8 minutes, and then flip and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes.
• In the stove top method you can skip adding vegetables, or if you prefer you can saute in a similar fashion as described above.
• Adjust the amount of red chile powder as per your taste.
• Depending on the spiciness of the green chilies, vary it in the recipe. Feel free to add jalapenos or even Serrano pepper.
• You can also substitute coriander seeds and cumin seeds with coriander powder and cumin powder.