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, 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.