Tikka Chicken Marsala - From Scratch or Pre-Packed Sauce

What excitement at Homemade Heaven, when you have 2 recipes from 2 bloggers for the same dish, made 2 different ways and both equally satisfying.

The first recipe is a dinner in a flash, the other is a remake of the original made from scratch. We have not only given you the recipes, but also a review and cost comparison.

This is a first for Homemade Heaven and I really hope not the last, as it has been very informative for me and I know that you as the readers are going to enjoy following this series.

I start with Dinner in a Flash recipe by Cupcakes and Couscous, Teresa Ulyate

Chicken Tikka with fragrant rice:

1 cup basmati rice
8 whole cloves
4 cups water
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 onion, chopped
4 chicken breast fillets, cubed
200ml Ina Paarman tikka curry sauce
400g tin peeled and chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup cream
salt
pepper
a handful of fresh coriander leaves + extra to garnish

Step 1.) Place the basmati rice, cloves and water in a saucepan. Cover and leave to soak
Step 2.) Heat the sunflower oil in a saucepan. Add the chopped onion and sauté for 5 minutes.
Step 3.) Add the cubed chicken and fry for 3 minutes to seal.
Step 4.) Meanwhile, place the saucepan of rice over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked through.
Step 5.) Add the tikka curry sauce and tomatoes to the chicken. Mix well, cover the saucepan and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
Step 6.) Stir in the cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. Tear the coriander leaves into the curry, mix and continue to simmer until heated through.
Step 7.) Remove the cloves from the rice. Spoon the rice and chicken tikka onto heated plates, garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Review by  Cupcakes and Couscous, Teresa Ulyate
Product: Ina Paarman Tikka Curry Coat and Cook Sauce (200ml)
Factory shop cost: R7.50 (on special)
Retail price: R17.99 (Pick ‘n Pay)
Total prep & cooking time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Cost: R62.44 for the whole dish / R15.61 per serving:

• I have calculated the cost using the retail price of the tikka sauce (R17.99) as most people would not have access to the factory shop / discounted price.
• This cost is for the chicken tikka only and does not include the rice – let me know if you need rice cost too.

Thoughts on the product:
I definitely have a “make-it-from-scratch” approach when it comes to cooking and baking – however there are a few exceptions. Curry pastes is one of those! There are some great ones on the market that I feel really deliver on flavour and make it convenient for me to whip up a hearty and satisfying meal quickly and easily. I tend to use the curry pastes and haven’t tried many curry sauces, but Ina’s tikka cook and coat sauce did not disappoint!
Ease of use: It couldn’t get much simpler. The product is shelf stable with a long shelf life. All I needed to do was grab the pack off my pantry shelf, snip it open and pour it in!
Flavour: This sauce did not disappoint - it had a full, rich and well-rounded flavour. I didn’t feel as though anything was missing. It was hotter than I expected though (the pack stated “medium heat”). As you will see in my recipe I also added a tin of tomatoes – I was worried that this might dilute the flavour slightly but this was not the case. The flavour was perfect, and actually I think that if I hadn’t added the tomatoes it would definitely have been too hot for me! I realise that heat is a personal preference and that lots of customers probably like this, but I could have done with a little less heat.
General – as with all of Ina’s products the sauce is extremely versatile. It can be made on the stove top or used in the oven. It is suited to chicken, red meat, fish and veg and can be made using cream or coconut milk. I love that I can use 1 product in so many different ways!

Dinner in a flash! - Chicken Tikka with Fragrant Rice

Okay, so now you've all rushed off to buy the ready made sauce and left me holding a bowl of this 

Homemade Heaven Tikka Chicken Marsala

Serves 6 generous portions (Could be 8 if I didn't have teenage boys)

Marinade:

500g cup plain yogurt

4 Large Garlic Cloves

1 2" Knob of Ginger peeled 

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaped teaspoon of Smoked Paprika

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 Chicken Breasts, Skinned and de-boned and cut into chunks.

Using a pestle and mortar pound the garlic, ginger, salt and black pepper, until a fine paste.

In a large zip lock bag mix the paste and the rest of the ingredients and marinade for 6 hours or over night.

Sauce

4 teaspoons olive oil

3 Large Garlic cloves

2 teaspoons of dried chilli flakes

50g packet of tomato paste

1 tablespoon garam masala or eleven -in-one masala

2 teaspoons paprika

250g of  Tomato Puree

500g Roma Cocktail tomatoes cut in half

2 teaspoons of sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 Sachet of Chicken or vegetable Stock

1 to 2 cups water ( I used closer to 2 cups)

Oil, for grilling

Freshly chopped Coriander Leaves

Sauce

Place a large griddle pan over high heat 

Place another large sauce pan on medium heat and warm oil

Add the Garlic Paste and Chilli flakes

Fry until lightly browned 

Stir in the tomato paste and cook until the paste has darkened in color, keep stirring

Add the Marsala of your choice and paprika, fry for about 1 minute.

Add the tomato puree, give a gentle stir.

Add the tomatoes, sugar, stock sachet, salt, and 1 cup water.

Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and cook until thickened, Add more water depending on how your sauce thickens.

Cook for about 20 minutes

Using an immersion blender process sauce until smooth. 

In the hot grilled pan, fry the pieces of marinaded chicken until charred - not cooked. 

Add the charred pieces of chicken to the cooking sauce.

Cook for a further 10 - 15 minutes, until sauce is nicely thickened.

Add the Corriander to the sauce, leaving some for garnish.

**** You can add 125ml of cream to this recipe, once the chicken is cooked and before adding the coriander.

Serve with basmati rice and naan bread.

Cost for dish : R 80,00 total of R11.42 per person (for 7 servings)

Review

While there is a certain amount of preparation involved, especially if you take the cheaper route like I do, and de-bone and skin the chicken myself.

I did not find any of the steps very complicated and the sauce did not need much attention, except for the occasional stir. 

The char grilling is messy, but the small burnt pieces certainly did add a lovely flavour. I would like to next time, do the grilling over the coals - but that would incur more cost and time.

Teresa's palate is tender and not used to heat - my family enjoy our food on the spicy to very spicy side. This recipe for me, had a slight spiciness - but I do warn those who have a more delicate taste buds, to cut back or cut out the crushed red chilli.  

Of course adding the cream would help temper the spiciness.

I would certainly make this without hesitation for a weekday meal, if I had the forethought to do the marinade 6 hours or the night before.