Chicken tandoori masala

I love curries - eating them and cooking them - but I doubt mine are very authentic.  If you're looking for real Indian food this probably isn't the best place to look but it will be tasty!  Tandoori masala is a bit of a British mashup anyway, so feel free to play with it.

For example, this would normally be quite mild but the Manicure Maniac's got a stinking cold at the moment and a really hot curry is always good for those.

I always seem to be marinading meat at the moment, and tonight's no exception.  I absolutely love British curry house tandoori chicken - that fantastic red colour and smoky flavour.  I buy tandoori masala marinade from the local corner shop, which has a fantastic range of Indian ingredients.  I've never seen it in a supermarket, but all the different places I've lived have had an Indian corner shop somewhere nearby.

So - chop up some chicken into bite-sized pieces (thigh or breast, whichever you prefer, but thigh's much cheaper and just as nice), mix the tandoori masala powder up with some plain natural yoghurt and leave it in the fridge overnight.

When you're ready to eat, cook the chicken under the grill.  A real tandoori is an incredibly hot oven and your grill doesn't have a chance of getting up to the required temperature so just preheat it and get it as hot as it will get before putting the chicken under.  If your grill is built in to the oven, try this: preheat the oven as high as it will go before you start grilling, to help raise the temperature all round.

When the chicken's cooked through with a few brown/black spots on the outside for that smoky flavour, set it aside and get started on the sauce.

Chop an onion and crush a clove of garlic.  Heat a saucepan and throw in a teaspoonful of cumin seeds.  Move them about, just to toast them a little.  Now add a knob of butter, a splash of vegetable oil, the onion and garlic, and a teaspoonful of smoked paprika.  Turn the heat down low and let everything mix together and soften - it'll take about 6-8 minutes.

At this point I added a chopped chilli pepper for heat - if you want a more "authentic" mild curry leave it out.

Now add a tin of tomatoes - or if you have some fresh ones that are perhaps a little past their best hanging about in the bottom of the fridge, chop them up and use them.  Stir well, scraping the bottom of the pan to get any flavoursome bits up, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.  Then put the cooked chicken in and add a splash of cream for luxury - we had carbonara yesterday, so I had half a tub of cream left in the fridge.

While the sauce is cooking, make up a relish of yoghurt, grated cucumber, mint and turmeric.

Serve with rice and/or naan.

Taste verdict
I've had worse curries out!  No idea how authentic it is, but it tasted good and the chicken was really tender thanks to the night spent bathing in yoghurt.  Probably not the healthiest curry in the world, what with the knob of butter and splash of cream, but it didn't feel heavy and it didn't have that sheen of grease that you often get with takeaways.  It was quick and easy to make, too.

Financial verdict
2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs - £1.40
An onion - 20p
Tin of tomatoes - 40p
Butter, cream, yoghurt, spices, rice, cucumber - let's call it £1

£1.50 each

The skinny

Chop a few pieces of chicken into bite size pieces and marinade them overnight in yoghurt and tandoori masala spice mix

Grill the chicken as hot as your equipment will allow, until cooked through, and set aside

Cook a chopped onion and a crushed garlic clove in butter and vegetable oil over a low heat along with a teaspoonful each of cumin seeds and smoked paprika

When the onion is soft (about 6-8 minutes) add a tin of tomatoes and (optional) chopped chilli pepper.  Simmer for about 10-15 minutes

Add the cooked chicken and a splash of cream and warm through

Serve with rice and/or naan bread

WeightWatchers ProPoints

9 for the curry, plus 3 for the rice