Tikka masala is a dish that shows up with a little bit of attitude. Bright, tangy, a little kick of spice!
It's just as beloved as it is intimidating to make at home, which is exactly why we made you a tikka masala spice blend that comes in single-use packets, with a 30-minute recipe printed right on the back.
The History of Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken tikka masala's origin story is a genuinely contested one, and that's part of what makes it so fun to talk about.
Most food historians trace it back to South Asian immigrant chefs in Britain, with Glasgow often credited as the birthplace sometime in the 1960s or 70s. As the story goes, a customer sent back a plate of chicken tikka for being too dry, so the chef improvised a sauce out of tomato soup, cream, and spices to bring it back to life.
Whether or not that exact moment happened, the dish became a phenomenon in its own right, eventually crowned the unofficial national dish of the UK. It's got tang up front, warmth that builds in the middle, and just enough heat to keep you coming back for another bite.
Tomato and citric acid do the heavy lifting up front, cumin and ginger fill the middle of the dish, and the cayenne waits a beat before making itself known. A yogurt marinade softens the chicken and adds its own tang along the way, and the cilantro in the mix mirrors whatever fresh herbs you'll toss on at the end.
Tikka Masala Spice Breakdown
Here's what's in the packet, and what each one is doing for the dish:
Up front
- Tomato powder: the tangy, dominant flavour of the sauce, concentrated down to a powder so it dissolves right in.
- Sugar: rounds out the acidity of the tomato.
The base underneath
- Garlic: savory depth, no peeling or mincing required.
- Onion: builds out the base flavour alongside the garlic.
- Salt: ties every other flavour together and keeps things from tasting flat.
- Cilantro: ties the blend to the fresh garnish you'll add on top.
Through the middle
- Cumin: earthy and warm.
- Ginger: a little zing that carries through the middle of the dish and cuts through the richness.
- Turmeric: warm golden color with a subtle, earthy bitterness.
- Green cardamom: floral and slightly sweet, part of what makes this smell so good while it cooks.
Arriving a beat later
- Black pepper: a gentle, steady heat that builds in the background.
- Cayenne: brings the heat, and it's the one that arrives a few bites in rather than all at once.
- Cinnamon: a touch of sweet warmth that rounds out the spice blend.
This blend takes all of that off your plate (pun intended). One packet, one dish, correctly proportioned every time.
You bring the chicken, yogurt, crushed tomato, and heavy cream, and the packet handles the rest. Pair that with a recipe that takes you from prep to plate in 30 minutes and feeds four people, and tikka masala officially makes its way into your home kitchen with ease.
By Spicewalla's Culinary Director, Alyse Baca
