The definition
Tikka means "piece" or "chunk". Chicken tikka is marinated boneless chicken, traditionally skewered and grilled, historically in a tandoor. The marinade (yoghurt and spices; in our case ginger, garlic, lemon, mustard oil and raw spice blends) tenderises the meat and builds the char.
Tikka vs tikka masala
Chicken tikka is the grilled dish itself. Chicken tikka masala takes those grilled pieces and simmers them in a creamy tomato sauce, a later (arguably British) invention. If you order tikka at Tikkas you get the real thing: char, spice and juice, no sauce bath. (Our Tikkas & Cream is the closest nod: grilled tikka finished in melted butter, cream and chaat masala.)
What good tikka should taste like
- Char without dryness: thigh meat keeps its juice where breast usually dries out
- Colour from spice, not dye: the neon-red version you've seen is food colouring; real tikka runs amber-to-crimson depending on the chillies
- A marinade you can taste all the way through, which takes hours, not a brush-on
The five ways we make it
Malai (creamy, no heat) · Hariyali (coriander & mint) · Lassuni (garlic) · Classic (the original) · Angara (three chillies). Chicken or paneer, £6.95–£9.95, two minutes from Oxford Circus.
