Ingredients
[/color]For the chicken tikka
[/b]2 chicken breast skinned and boned
4 chicken thigh fillets
4cm (1 ½ inches) piece of root ginger, peeled and grated
3 gloves garlic, crushed
5 tablespoons tikka masala curry paste
3 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
Juice of 1 lemon
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 tablespoon ground almonds
150ml (5fl oz) double cream
Small bunch coriander, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pilau rice
[/b]350g (12oz) Basmati rice
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
4 gloves
4 cardamom pods cracked
5cm (2inch) piece cinnamons stick
1 bay leaf
600ml (1pt) boiling water
½ teaspoon salt
Preparation
[/color]Chicken tikka masala
[/b]Cut the chicken into 4cm (1 ½-inch) chunks.
Place half the ginger and garlic in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons curry paste, the yoghurt, juice of ½ lemon and a good pinch of salt. Mix together, stir in the chicken pieces and leave to marinate for 20minutes or a few hours.
For the sauce; fry the onions in the oil for 5 minutes over medium heat stirring occasionally. Add the rest of the ginger and garlic and after a minute add 3 tablespoons curry paste and the tomato puree and continue to fry for 2 minutes.
Add the remaining lemon juice ground almonds, about 200ml (1/3 pint) boiling water and some salt and pepper.
Simmer for 10minutes.
Pre-heat the chargrill pan or grill to high. Thread the pieces of chicken onto metal skewers and place on the lightly oiled grillpan and cook for 10 minutes, turning now and then until lightly browned and cooked through. Meanwhile add the cream to the sauce and continue to simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Pour the sauce into a liquidizer and blend until smooth. Return it to the saucepan and push the pieces of cooked chicken off the skewers into the sauce. Add the coriander and season to taste.
For the pilau rice
[/b]Wash the rice several times then leave to soak in cold water for 7-8 minutes, then drain well.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the spices and bay leaf and cook gently for 2-3 minutes until they smell aromatic.
Stir in the rice, carefully add the boiling water and salt and bring to the boil. Stir once, cover with a tight fitting lid and cook over a low heat for about 12 minutes. Uncover, fluff up the grains with a fork and serve.