LAZEEZ MURGH TIKKA MASALA

I have been very lazy in experimenting main course meals lately. In earlier days of marriage I used to try every single way to impress my husband and cook for him. A once experimented dish hardly was repeated especially during dinners and I used to keep experimenting new ones. As kids came into our lives, my schedule gradually got hectic and so the time I spent to cook.

Usually these days when I decide chicken for our menu, I cook up regular easy version of chicken curry and do not take the trouble to browse through Internets. After a long while I felt the urge to cook something different and I happened to stumble over this recipe of Sanjeev Kapoor's. I tried it the same day and it turned out to be delicious with all the richness and spice loaded cream based thick gravy. It is perfect to go with rotis and obviously rice was not the perfect combo, as I made rice as I was in short of time to prepare roti before hubby arrived.  I felt the khoya in this recipe added richness to the gravy and prepared khoya just for the gravy as per the instructions given by a chef in one of the youtube videos. Click here to find out how. Not saying much, lets hop over to the recipe.
Ingredients:
 For Murgh (chicken) tikka:

• Boneless chicken cut into cubes- 400-500 gms
• Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder- 2 tsp
• Garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 trsp
• Salt- to taste
• Lime juice- half lime
• Yoghurt- 2 tbsp 
• Oil- 3 tbsp

For Gravy:

• Oil- 5 tbsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Onion- 1, cut into cubes
• Tomatoes- deseeded, Cut into cubes
• Capsicum- 1 medium sized, cut into cubes
• Onion- 2 chopped
• Ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp
• Tomatoes - 2
• Kashmiri chilli powder- 2 tbsp
• Garam masala powder- 1/2 tbsp
• Kasoori methi- 1/2 tsp
• Cardamom powder- 1/4 tsp
• Khoya, grated - 1/4 cup
• Cream- 2 tbsp
• Honey-2 tsp

 Method:

• Marinate chicken pieces in the given ingredients except oil and let it sit for atleast half an hour.
• Then heat a skillet with oil and fry the pieces till cooked well. I closed the lid so that chicken gets cooked well inside too.
• In same pan, discard burnt particles if any, heat 3 tbsp oil and add cumin seeds.
• Once its color changes, Add 2 onion, ginger garlic paste and saute for a while.
• Add in the spice powders and kasoori methi. Mix in for a while.
• Then puree 2 tomatoes in a blender and add into the gravy mixture. Cook till raw smell disappears.
• Now add the grated khoya and mix. 
• Add the fried chicken pieces, mix and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Finally add cream and honey, and let it boil for about a minute and off the flame.
• In another pan, heat remaining oil and saute onion, tomatoes and capsicum till soft. Add these cooked veggies to the gravy. Serve hot and enjoy with Battoora, Ceylon wheat parotta etc.