Chicken Tikka

November 22, 2025

Murgh tikka is cubes of chicken breast marinated in spiced yoghurt and grilled on skewers. The word tikka means pieces or morsels in Hindi and Urdu, and the dish belongs to North Indian tandoori cooking, where the marinated meat pieces are traditionally flash-cooked in a charcoal-fired clay oven.

The marinade is yoghurt with freshly grated ginger, crushed garlic, chilli powder, ground coriander seeds and lemon juice. The yoghurt tenderises the meat, the acid opens up the spices, and the oil keeps everything moist under the grill. Chicken is a good choice here because the lean breast fillet would otherwise dry out easily, but a night in the marinade solves that.

The result is deeply savoury with a faint char from the grill — the yoghurt marinade keeps the meat moist while the spices caramelise on the surface. It is popular as a starter or party dish, easy to prepare in advance and quick to grill. The dish stands on its own with onion, tomato and lemon, and it is also the starting point for tikka masala, where the grilled pieces are folded into a spiced tomato cream sauce. So once you have made the marinade and grilled the meat, you have two dishes for roughly the same work.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Chicken

1.5 dl plain yoghurt
1 tbsp fresh ginger, freshly grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
0.5 tsp salt
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp oil
750 g skinless chicken breast fillet, cut into cubes

Garnish

1 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, quartered
4 lemon wedges

Directions

Mix the yoghurt, ginger, garlic, chilli powder, ground coriander seeds, salt, lemon juice and oil together in a bowl to a smooth marinade.

Turn the chicken cubes in the marinade so each piece is coated. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight, at least 8 hours.

Turn on the oven grill and let it heat up. Thread the chicken cubes onto four skewers. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes first so they do not burn.

Place the skewers on a baking tray or rack with a tray underneath to catch the drips. Grill close to the element for 5–6 minutes. Turn them a couple of times so they colour on all sides and do not burn.

Check that the meat is cooked through — the juices should run clear, not pink. Remove and leave to rest for a couple of minutes.

Serve either on the skewers or slide the pieces off onto a dish. Garnish with onion slices, tomato quarters and lemon wedges and serve immediately.

Notes

Can also be grilled on an outdoor barbecue over direct heat — same time, but keep a closer eye as the heat varies more.

The yoghurt marinade cannot be reused as a sauce as it has been in contact with raw meat. For a sauce alongside, mix a fresh bowl of yoghurt with a little grated cucumber, salt and cumin (raita).

Typically served with basmati rice, naan or chapati, and pickled onion or a simple salad with cucumber and red onion.

The grilled pieces are also the base for tikka masala: fold them into a sauce of tomato, cream and garam masala, warm everything through and serve with rice.

Active time: 15 minutes plus overnight marinating. Grilling time: 5–6 minutes.