Recipe - Chicken Tikka Masala Phal

Toilet rolls and baby wipes in the freezer in preparation, ladies and gentlemen, this one is a burner.  You thought it was hot going in?  *Shakes head*.

To save time, energy and repetition, first of all, you need to take another look at this post here and you need to follow the instructions for:
a)  Marinating your tikka meat
b)  The curry Base sauce
c)  The Spice mix
d)  Cooking the Chicken Tikka-ed pieces

The marinated and cooked Chicken Tikka pieces

Essentially this dish is exactly the same as the Chicken Tikka Masala up to the assembling part. 

The two curry sauces assembled up to adding the meat and the cream

As I knew that the Phal would be far too hot for the children (even though the eldest two will eat anything up to a Madras!) I made them a Chicken Tikka, it was no big deal as the meat was the same, just the pan of sauce a little different.  Both sauces are identical with the exception of the additional spices in the Phal.  You can't tell them apart, right?

Onwards with the recipe for the Phal:

400g pre-cooked chicken tikka
Vegetable or sunflower oil
1 tsp garlic (chopped or minced)
½ tsp fresh ginger(I used puree)

1 tbsp Tandoori Masala 

1 tsp spice mix 

1 tbsp tomato puree (diluted with 3 tbsp water)

2 tsp chilli powder

1 tbsp hot chillies, finely chopped (you could use less hotter chillies and it would still be a tasty spicy dish)
3 ladles of curry base
1 tsp creamed coconut, crumbled
2 tbsp fine desiccated coconut

2 tbsp sugar (optional, I don't use)

½ tsp salt (optional)
100ml fresh single cream

milk (if required, I was happy with consistency of mine)

1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
1 tbsp ground almonds (optional)

fresh chopped Coriander (optional - I don't use as neither Hubby nor I can bear the taste)

Method:

Stir the creamed coconut, dessicated coconut and ground almonds into the cream to make a paste.

Heat a little oil in a pan (I used a heavy based frying pan) and add the garlic, ginger and chillies.  Fry for a few seconds, stirring continuously.  Do not burn.

Remove pan from the heat and add the Tandoori Masala, spice mix and chilli powder.  Also add the diluted tomato puree, stir together and return to the heat.

Add a ladle of the base sauce, mix well to combine all the spices.

Add the precooked chicken to the pan, and the remaining sauce.  Simmer together for about 5 minutes.

Add the cream mixture, sugar, salt and lemon if using and stir together.  If sauce is too thick for you, thin it out with a little milk or extra cream.

Garnish with coriander, if using. 

Chicken Tikka Masala Phal, with boiled rice and garlic naan for dipping!

This was probably the best curry I have made in a long time, my husband vowed it was the best curry he'd eaten anywhere, at home or in a BIR, ever in his life.   Admittedly it was very, very tasty.  This is something I've had to teach my friends when they come over for food, vowing 'Anything hotter than a Korma and I'm done'.  No, no, no.  I've had food that is so hot you can't taste it, that's not good food.  We can all do that, by shoving so much chilli powder into a dish you can't tell what it is.  If you get your spice blend just right, you can get the heat of the dish, while still maintaining the taste of the curry.  Subsequently I've had some Korma-friends sit down and eat a Vindaloo, and the ones who couldn't eat it did try it and comment that although hot, it was really tasty.

I'd love someone to try making one of the curries I've posted, please let me know if you do in the comments.  I know it may look a bit daunting with all the different steps but in all honesty, if you read through beforehand and make sure your spices are all out and mixed, and your veggies are chopped, writing the blog post about the curry is more time consuming!

M x