Hung yogurt + ginger-garlic + Kashmiri chili + garam masala + lemon. The marinade base of every chicken tikka.
The marinade itself is older than the tandoor-cooked dish — yogurt-spice marinades appear in Mughal court cookbooks (Nuskha-e-Shahjahani, 17th c.). Modern chicken tikka as a restaurant item was popularized at Moti Mahal, Daryaganj, Delhi by Kundan Lal Gujral in 1947, where the leftover marinated tikka born of refrigeration mishap led to butter chicken the following year.
The 2001 declaration by UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook of chicken tikka masala as 'Britain's true national dish' triggered a still-unsettled origin debate (Gujral's Delhi vs Glasgow's Shish Mahal, 1971). Patak's bottled tikka paste, sold since 1958 from a kitchen in Bolton, made the marinade global.
Spoon-thick, brick-orange (Kashmiri chili dyes without burning), smelling of garam masala and toasted cumin. On chicken thigh it grips for 4-6 hours and pulls a mahogany char in the tandoor; the yogurt protein bonds to the meat surface and chars before the inside dries.
Yogurt's lactic acid (pH 4.4) gently denatures muscle protein at the surface — too acidic and the texture turns mealy. Hung yogurt (cheesecloth-strained 2 hours, ~25% water removed) is non-negotiable: regular yogurt's water content drowns the tandoor stick coating in 30 seconds. Kashmiri Lal Mirch (8,000-10,000 SHU) gives color without scorching heat.
Variations
Punjabi-Delhi version is yogurt-heavy and lemon-bright; Hyderabadi has cashew paste blended in for richness; Bangladeshi-British version (Brick Lane) adds mustard oil and a touch of sugar; Pakistani Lahori uses dried fenugreek leaves heavily.
On the Palate
Where Tikka Paste sits in the Indian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
4 steps · 5 min active + 22 min waiting
- 120 min
Soak 6 dried Kashmiri chilies in hot water 20 min; drain.
Watch outSoak the Kashmiri chilies until they go soft and swollen and the water stains deep red — that bleed is the color the paste rides on, with almost no heat.
- 23 min
Blend with 6 garlic cloves + 1 thumb ginger + 2 tbsp yogurt + 1 tbsp lemon juice.
Watch outUse thick strained yogurt, not runny — a wet blend slides right off the meat; the paste should cling in a heavy coat when you lift the spoon.
- 32 min
Add 2 tbsp garam masala + 1 tbsp paprika + 1 tsp turmeric + 1 tsp salt + 30 ml oil; blend smooth.
Watch outBlend to a thick, smooth marinade paste that holds its shape — loose and watery won't coat the tandoor skewer; it should sit up, not pour.
- 42 min
Jar; refrigerate 1 week; use as tandoori marinade.
