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Chicken Tikka (Murgh Tikka) is a popular North Indian starter, where boneless chicken pieces are coated with a spicy marinade and then grilled to perfection. This authentic snack recipe is great to make for parties or get-togethers. Use my simple recipe to make the best homemade chicken tikka in an oven, stovetop, air fryer, or outdoor grill (gluten-free).

Best Homemade Chicken Tikka Recipe (Murgh Tikka)

Course: Snacks and Appetiser
Cuisine: Indian
Diet: Gluten Free
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Marination Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 238kcal
Author: Neha Mathur
Chicken Tikka (Murgh Tikka) is a popular North Indian starter, where boneless chicken pieces are coated with a spicy marinade and then grilled to perfection. This authentic snack recipe is great to make for parties or get-togethers. Make the best homemade chicken tikka in an oven, stovetop, air fryer, or outdoor grill using my simple recipe.
Print Recipe
US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 26 ounce skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs 750 g

For the First Marinade

For Second Marinade:

For Smoking (Optional)

  • 1 piece of charcoal
  • 1 teaspoon ghee or oil

For Assembly

  • 1 cup onions cut into ½ inch cubes and petals seperated
  • 1 cup green bell peppers (capsicum) cut into ½ inch cubes
  • salted butter for basting

Instructions

Preparation

  • Rinse chicken breasts with water and pat them dry using paper tissues.
  • Cut them into ½-inch cubes.

Marinate The Chicken (First Marinade)

  • Add chicken cubes, salt, ginger garlic paste, lime juice to a large mixing bowl and mix well.
  • Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate the chicken for 3-4 hours or overnight.
  • Tip - You can also add a pinch of baking soda in the first marinade for extra succulent chicken.

Do The Seconad Marination

  • Take out the bowl from the refrigerator.
  • Add yogurt, cornstarch, mustard oil, tandoori masala powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, and black pepper powder to the bowl and mix well to coat the chicken pieces.
  • Keep the marinated chicken in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

Smoke The Chicken (Optional)

  • This step is optional but gives a restaurant-like smoky flavor to the chicken tikka. It is called Dhungar method.
  • Heat charcoal over a direct flame until it is red hot.
  • Keep a small bowl in the center of the marinated chicken and place the heated charcoal on the bowl.
  • Drizzle ghee over the charcoal and immediately close the bowl’s lid.
  • Let the chicken absorb the smoke for 10 minutes and become smoky in flavor.
  • Remove the lid, and discard the bowl with the charcoal. Mix well.

Grill The Chicken

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  • Thread the marinated chicken in the skewers along with onions and green peppers (capsicum).
  • Line the skewers on a foil-lined baking tray.
  • Grill for 10-12 minutes.
  • Pull the tray from the oven and baste the skewers generously with butter. Flip and baste with butter on the other side as well.
  • Return the tray to the oven and grill for another 10-12 minutes.
  • Increase the oven temperature to 420 Degrees F and broil the skewers for 3-4 minutes until they are slightly charred.
  • Remove the tikka from the oven and serve hot.

Notes

To make thick yogurt, keep a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl. Add yogurt to the strainer and keep the bowl with the strainer in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. The water from the yogurt will drip down into the bowl, and you will get thick yogurt in the strainer.
Try to use metal skewers to thread the chicken pieces. They get hot and cook the chicken from inside as well. Make sure to handle them using a tong or a glove.
If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes before threading the chicken; otherwise, they will get burned.
Cut the chicken into even pieces and pat the chicken pieces dry using a kitchen towel before marinating them.
If using chicken thighs, reduce the grilling time a bit. Thighs cook faster than breasts.
The recipes to cook the chicken in an air fryer, microwave, or pan are in the post.

Nutrition

Calories: 238kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 553mg | Potassium: 543mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 349IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg