Vegan Chicken Tikka Curry

by Zahran Kamal

This is quite a simple recipe to make and goes really well with rice or naan bread. This amount serves one or two people.

160 g of vegan “chicken” pieces: i used the vegetarian butcher’s chicken chunks
100 g (7 tablespoons) of vegan yogurt: i used alpro’s no sugar plain yoghurt
12 g (4 teaspoons) garam masala mix: this mix consists of star anise, coriander, cumin, caraway seed, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, chili powder, mango powder, and laurel in equal parts; you can add them in dashes if you don’t have the spice mix; if you have the whole spices, you can add while frying; mango powder and laurel is not so essential
3 g (1 teaspoon) black pepper
12 g (4 teaspoons) mild paprika: this is more for color than for spiciness
5 g (1 tablespoon) chili paprika paste: i prefer haragos pista; whole chilis are nice as well, adjust to your own spice level.
12 g (4 teaspoons) nutmeg
6 g (2 teaspoons) ginger
6g (2 teaspoons) cinnamon
130 g (9 tablespoons) of tomato paste: i used a pasta sauce with mostly tomatoes, onion, and carrots. if you have pure tomatoes, skip the carrot and just use the tomato paste, while frying the onion beforehand spritz of lemon salt to taste

Marination:

10 minutes of marination is sufficient
here, in the sauce pan, add the chicken chunks, garam masala, and only two tablespoons of yogurt, just enough to coat it.

Light frying:

use a skillet
if you have the whole spices, start frying it in butter now, and also add the onion until it caramelizes; skip this step if you use powders
add the meat pieces on a frying pan with some butter, and fry it ever so slightly until both sides are brown; takes about two minutes

Cooking:

return the contents of the skillet to the sauce pan
now add the tomato sauce and the rest of the yoghurt, and all the other spices, some more butter and lemon. cover the lid and start cooking on medium heat, occasionally stirring, until boiling starts
now turn to low heat, and add the lid; this takes 15-20 minutes, and you’ll see that the meat chunks release water, which you’d like to evaporate a bit. in 25 minutes, you’re done! :) garnish with coriander and you’ll have a meal you’ll finish so fast that you won’t even have the time to take a photo.

Enjoy!