Chicken Tikka Korahi Recipe

A mildly spiced but very flavoursome thick curry although the original Pakistani and Indian versions can be quite fiery and cooked just in the Korahi (balti style bowl), This is a BIR version of the dish which is made milder although the heat can be adjusted if you prefer your curries hot.

Once this was very hard to find on menus but in more recent years it's good to see it gaining in popularity. The name refers to the dish the meal is served or cooked in and is more like a stir fry very similar to what is now referred to as a Balti. Because of this, the variations of this dish are huge as it's more of a style of cooking. However, most versions contain good-sized chunks of onions, green peppers and tomatoes with a thick sauce.

Although this recipe is for chicken tikka any meat can be used including pawns.

Ingredients

Makes 1 portion

8 pieces of pre-cooked chicken tikka
300ml base sauce
3/4 of a medium onion cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 green or red pepper cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons Natural Yoghurt
2 tablespoons of melted ghee
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons of watered-down tomato puree
1/2 a fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of mixed powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon Kashmiri Masala Paste
1/2 of a tomato, coarsely chopped
Chopped coriander leaves
1 teaspoon of dried methi leaves

 

Method

Heat the ghee in a pan until quite hot. Add the onions and pepper and quickly fry.
Shortly after adding all the spices, garlic and tomato puree, as soon as you have mixed this it should form a paste, add about 1/3 of the base sauce to loosen the paste and to prevent it from burning. Once this starts to thicken add the next 1/3 of the base sauce and stir occasionally until the sauce has become thick.

The final stage is adding the meat and the remaining base sauce and chopped coriander. As this thickens add the tomato (you want them with a little bite). Continue cooking until the sauce is quite thick and sticks to the meat.

Serve in a Balti bowl and sprinkle with plenty of chopped coriander.

Optional is to pour a little cream over the top prior to the coriander, more for effect but does add a little something to the presentation.