Topic: PanPot's Ashoka Chicken Tikka Masala

[Cory Ander]

Posted by Panpot and moved to here by CA

Ingredients:

- Marinated Chicken Tikka (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3917.msg35419;topicseen#msg35419)
- Onions Paste 1tbs (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3921.msg35423;topicseen#msg35423)
- Tomato Paste 1tbs
- Methi Pinch
- Chopped Coriander Pinch
- Onion/Capsicum Mix 1tbs

- Masala Sauce:

  - Yogurt 250mls
  - Tandoori Paste 1tbs
  - Garam Masala  1/2tsp
  - Salt 1/2tsp
  - Mustard Oil 1/2tsp
  - Mint Sauce 1/2tsp
  - Garlic/Ginger Paste 1tbs (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3915.msg35417;topicseen#msg35417)
  - Blend

Method:

- Heat the oil
- Add Onion Paste and Tomato Paste and stir, pressing into pan with back of chef's spoon for a minute
- Add Onion and Capsicum Mix
- Fry for a two minutes
- Add herbs and stir
- Add chicken and fry till browned or pre cooked is heated through
- Slowly add little amounts the Masala Sauce until cooked through
- Serve

[billycat]

just made this masala sauce

to be brutally frank it tastes bloody awful is it me or has anyone else had a bash

[Mikka1]

Might be the mustard oil that confuses the palette? I've had and used mustard oil after hearing just how much us UK boys love it only to throw the meal away.  :

[Panpot]

well bilycat its a while since I cooked it with the precooked chicken not the ticka and it was really good so again not sure if its regional thing here or whether your missing something. PP

[joshallen2k]

I tried a tikka recipe a while back (I'm thinking ifindforu's) that specified mustard oil in the marinade. It was pretty bad.

Looking at the recipe for this though, a cup of yogurt sounds inedible in a curry, especially one with no base.

That, plus a CTM with no coconut or sweetener makes it a no-go for me.

[CurryOnRegardless]

Not tried this particular recipe as I'm no big fan of CTM but do use mustard oil in a lot of 'side dishes' particularly dahls,  saag dishes, aloo gobhi, bombay spud and so on, and find it works very well. I wouldn't use it in a 'main' dish as it could clash with the spice mix and overpower the whole thing. Even in veggie dishes it has to be used properly, that is the oil should be heated to almost smoking when it changes from orange to an almost clear straw colour and then allowed to cool a little, as it has a high smoke point, before using as normal.
That said, I can't see 1/2 tsp in a marinade being enough to ruin a dish though.

Regards
CoR

[Panpot]

Your correct Joshallen2k, It isn't a CTM as we would all know it. I don't think in this case it is meant to be so. There are other CTM recipes on here that I would use if cooking one again this is different but as I said I found it enjoyable if cooked to the letter and with the precooked chicken I didn't use the Tikka recipe provided. PP

[George]

Not tried this particular recipe as I'm no big fan of CTM but do use mustard oil in a lot of 'side dishes' particularly dahls,  saag dishes, aloo gobhi, bombay spud and so on, and find it works very well.

Where can one buy mustard oil fit for human consumption? I saw it in an Asian grocery and it said something like 'not to be taken by mouth'!

[PaulP]

Hi George,

Spices of India sell mustard oil for cooking/eating. I think because it is also used as a body rub some is indeed unfit to eat, hence the warnings you have seen.

[CurryOnRegardless]

Where can one buy mustard oil fit for human consumption? I saw it in an Asian grocery and it said something like 'not to be taken by mouth'!

EC rules say all mustard oil has to be labeled 'for external use only'. However, a bit of googling turns up some interesting stories.
It appears, to me, that this state of affairs has arisen as the result of some dodgy scientific research which basically showed that if you force fed lab rats 10 times their body weight per day with mustard oil after a couple of weeks they dropped dead, surprise surprise. Armed with these scientific results mustard oil has been deemed toxic to humans, so must be appropriately labeled.
Now consider this. Mustard oil is a staple to many in the Indian sub-continent as olive oil is to many Europeans. In India, its' production is a low tech, largely unregulated, cottage industry which is both sustainable and has a low carbon footprint and which is extremely difficult for the Indian government to raise taxation from. The multi-national agro/chemical industry has a solution to this, which is to switch production from the traditional mustard oil to the likes of (GM) soya, provided of course by the same agro/chemical industry along with all the fertilisers and other lovely chemicals required not to mention the oil/fuel needed to modernise an industry and increase its output so raising revenues for the government and the multi-national corporations.
As a part of this process it would of course help if some scientific basis could be found for the move away from the traditional to the new, hence the 'research' mentioned at the beginning of this post, paid for by, yes you've guessed, big pharma.
Wether you choose to believe this phony research or use a product that has been consumed with no ill effects by millions of people, for hundreds of years and is also said to have healing properties when used in traditional (Ayurveda) Indian medicine, is entirely up to you.

Regards
CoR