Another favourite of mine is Tandoori chicken. Chunks of chicken marinated in herbs, spices and yogurt then cooked on skewers inside the Tandoor – a hot clay oven. A lovely aromatic dry dish usually served with a salad and sauce – my go to is mint yogurt. Alongside this the chicken Tikka kebab quite similar in as much as marinated chicken is dry cooked. The big difference I suppose is the size of the skewer. Tenderized chicken thighs layered top of each other – held in place by skewers and then baked. This vertical method allowing the juices to travel downward basting the layer below. Having created a Rotisserie method making a column of meat then one cuts slices off downwardly. Serve in a pitta bread, or my favourite a Keema Naan.

There’s little I can offer to make the entire dish SYN free because, white bread is white bread. A small amount of whole meal is a free food hence my opting for pitta bread. The chicken though can certainly be made SYN free and frugally.

The average price for a Chicken Tikka Kebab is £7. My dish costs slightly less. The 2 differences are 1) I know exactly what ingredients went into & how it was made; 2) I am feeding a family of 3 for less than 1 ‘bought in’ kebab!

There are only 5 ingredients : 

Chicken thighs deboned and visible fat removed

Tandoori Powder or Tikka Powder

Leaf Coriander

Greek fat free yogurt

Large orange, onion, or large potato

Tenderize the meat by covering with clingfilm and giving it good bash on a wooden block with a rolling pin. Next in a large bowl mix, 250ml fat free Greek yogurt with 1tbsp Coriander and 3 tbsp of Tandoori spice mix. 

Add the tenderize chicken ensuring a good coating of marinade. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight if possible.

Make room in the oven – you’ll probably need to remove or at least re-jig the shelves; this will be a tall dish. Next cut the potato/onion/orange in half and place for a wide roasting tin. Take 1-2 skewers and pierce the base from the cut side up so that the point of the skewers are upward. It should look the aerial for an old TV.

Now add the chicken a piece at a time over the skewers building a tower of chicken.

When complete cover with foil and roast in a preheated oven at 200C for up to 45 minutes.

Serve with your bread of temptation, salad and the all important mint yogurt. 

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Tags: Chicken, Easy, Frugal, Indian, Tikka