Skinny chicken tikka masala with fragrant rice recipe

Our skinny chicken tikka masala with fragrant rice is a much healthier option than your average takeaway. A tasty, healthy chicken curry with low-fat yogurt, free-range chicken, light coconut milk and lots of warming Indian spices. This recipe serves 2 people and will take around 1hr and 10 mins to prepare and cook. This recipe shows you how to make a delicious marinade from scratch too - you'll want to make this marinade over and over again.

Ingredients

For the marinade:

• 1tbsp tikka masala curry paste
• 150g low-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 free-range chicken breasts, each cut into 5-6 large chunks
• Pinch of salt

For the sauce:

• 1 rounded tbsp tikka masala curry paste
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 200g passata / strained tomatoes
• 200ml tin reduced-fat or light coconut milk
• 1tbsp low-fat Greek yogurt
• A handful of coriander, chopped

For the fragrant rice:

• 100g basmati rice
• Pinch of salt
• 5 curry leaves
• ½ tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Pinch of saffron (optional)

Method

1. To make the marinade for this chicken curry recipe (opens in new tab), mix the curry paste, yogurt and chicken together.
2. Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C. Drain the chicken a little and place piece by piece, onto a baking tray. Bake for 20 mins or until slightly charred. Set the tikka chicken aside while you make the sauce.
3. Heat the curry paste in a saucepan. Add the onion and sweat slowly over a low heat for 5-8 mins or until the onion is translucent and soft. Add in the passata and cook for 5 mins, then add in the coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and add in the tikka chicken. Cook over a low heat for 5 mins or until the chicken is cooked through. Finish by stirring through the yogurt and coriander.
4. To make the fragrant rice, add the rice and the aromatics to a pan and cover with enough water to come 1cm over the top of the rice. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 mins, covered. The rice should have absorbed almost all of the water, but still be a bit wet. Remove from the heat and leave to absorb the remaining water for 10 mins, covered. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving with the curry.