Making true chicken tikka masala takes time. Not a lot of time—this Julie Sahni recipe only takes 45 minutes—but enough time that it may be more minutes than you have free on a weeknight. With that in mind, I attempted to develop the fastest chicken tikka masala I could. The result takes a lot of shortcuts and is not at all a traditional chicken tikka. But it's delicious, and comes together in under 30 minutes.
Here are the steps I took to make this dish quicker:
Traditional tikka masala recipes usually call for a marinade for the chicken. I love the tenderizing results, but in order to save time, I skipped that step. Instead, yogurt is stirred into the dish at the end of cooking to add a creamy tang.
Sometimes you've got to get dinner on the table now. Using a food processor can reduce your prep time and get you cooking faster. You may have a little more clean-up on the back end, but that's often easier to stomach than cooking on fumes with a hungry family asking when dinner will be ready.
We all know skinless, boneless chicken breasts are convenient. But they can also be pretty dull. This recipe uses dried spices, fresh ginger and garlic, and a spicy tomato sauce to energize the weeknight white meat.
No need to stock your cabinet with a dozen spices when one store-bought mix can give you similar results. Garam masala is a blend of spices used in Indian and other South Asian cuisines. Though the exact ingredients vary from region to region, a typical Indian version usually contains a mix of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, mace, black pepper, cardamom, bay leaf, and sometimes cumin and coriander. I started with this mix as a flavor base, and added a little cayenne for spice and turmeric for heat and color.
Rice is a great accompaniment to this dish, but a faster option is store-bought naan. (Bonus: Nothing beats naan for sopping up the delicious tomato sauce.) If you want to make it a little fancy, toast the naan, then brush it with olive oil and sprinkle with chopped cilantro and flaky salt.
