Tasty, Diet-Friendly Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

There’s nothing quite like a delicious curry to hit the spot when you fancy indulging your taste buds.

But most of the curries you can get in takeaways, restaurants and supermarket ready-meals are going to be packed with excess calories, will have a poor nutritional profile and won’t help you reach your fitness goals.

So we’ve created a healthier version of the takeaway favourite Tikka Masala that is packed full of fragrant spices and delicious Indian flavours while not completely blowing your diet out of the water.

Stock up your spice cupboard, this is a recipe you will go back to again and again. Despite the long ingredients list, you can prepare this curry with ease in your slow cooker.

You could easily skip the marinade step and buy a shop-bought marinade, if you are really short on time. However, there is nothing better than making a curry from scratch and knowing exactly what has gone into it.

This recipe is amazing for batch cooking, making it ideal for meal prep.

Serves 5

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

• 800g chicken breast, diced
• Juice of half a lemon
• 150g low-fat natural yoghurt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-inch piece of ginger, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 black pepper

For the sauce:

• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2-inch piece of ginger, minced
• 1 1/2 white onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 5 round tomatoes, chopped
• 4 tbsp tomato puree
• 15g coriander stalks, roughly chopped

– 50g of soaked cashews

or

– 100g Greek yoghurt

For the pilau ‘rice’:

• 500g cauliflower rice
• 5 cardamom pods
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 15g fresh coriander leaves

Method:

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and mix together.
2. Add the diced chicken breast and coat with the marinade. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but the longer the better.
3. In a pan, heat the ghee and add the diced onions, garlic, ginger, cinnamon and bay leaves. Season.
4. Stir fry together for 5 minutes and then add the diced, marinated chicken. Sear on all sides for 2 minutes.
5. Transfer everything from the pan into a slow cooker and add the tomatoes, tomato puree, turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala.
6. Top up with a little water, to ensure everything is covered in the slow cooker and add the chopped coriander stalks.
7. Leave the slow cooker on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-plus hours.
8. Once you are ready to serve the curry, prepare the cauliflower ‘rice’.
9. Place the cauliflower, turmeric, and coriander into a food processor and pulse until it is the consistency of rice.
10. Season with salt and pepper and add the cardamom pods.
11. Microwave or stir-fry for 3 minutes, before removing the cardamom pods.
12. Use the yoghurt or cashews to add a creamy texture.
13. If using the cashews, add to a blender and cover with water or milk. Pulse until you have created a cashew paste, and stir into the curry.
14. If using the Greek yoghurt, simply stir into the curry.
15. Serve all together and garnish with coriander leaves.

Macros:

Per Serve:
Using cashews:

Calories: 317 Carbs: 12.4g Fat: 9.5g Protein: 45.5g

Using Greek yoghurt:

Calories: 299 Carbs: 12.9g Fat: 7.6g Protein: 44.8g