Authentic Chicken Tikka Kebab (Murgh Tikka)

Indian style chicken tikka kebab, also known as tandoori chicken tikka or murgh tikka are tender chicken pieces marinated in yogurt, aromatic spices and herbs. These marinated morsels are then skewered and cooked in the intense heat of a tandoor oven until they acquire a delightful char. The resulting chicken tikka is bursting with flavor and smokiness!

At home, you could cook chicken tikka skewers in a pan on stovetop, in air fryer or in the oven, I have included instructions for all the methods in this post. Excellent for meal preparation!

Serve these delightful chicken tikka for your next summer grilling party as an appetizer with chutneys or a side to main dishes such as pulao or biryani. There are a ton of other ways you could serve them(read my ideas later in post).

Come summer and we love to make a lot of tikka and kebab recipes. As part of my meal prep routine, I always prepare several types of tikka marinades. Then, throughout the week, we indulge in a variety of tikka recipes, including lamb tikka, fish tikka, and paneer tikka.

What is Chicken Tikka

In Hindi, tikka refers to pieces of meat, chicken, paneer or vegetables that are marinated and then threaded on skewers and cooked on high heat. Be it the mild and creamy chicken malai tikka or herbaceous hariyali chicken tikka, in indian cuisine, there is tikka for every taste!

Chicken tikka is a popular indian starter made from boneless chicken pieces (I go for chicken thighs, however chicken breast works good too) soaked in a flavorful and tangy tandoori marinade for several hours. Once marinated, the chicken is cooked over high heat until it achieves a tender texture and a delightful charred exterior. It's promptly dusted with chaat masala once done for that perfect finishing touch.

Spicy, smoky and succulent - you could hardly go wrong when these adjectives define a chicken dish. Chicken tikka is a common sight on the menus of Indian restaurants worldwide. Imagine it as the boneless version of tandoori chicken.

If you have a doubt, chicken tikka is different from chicken tikka masala. The journey to chicken tikka masala begins with tender chicken tikka, which is then gently simmered in a creamy tomato sauce, to make a luscious curry. I will share my recipe soon.

Tips for the Best Chicken Tikka Marinade

The heart of this simple chicken tikka kebab recipe lies in the tandoori marinade. Pour all your efforts into making a robust, savory marinade. When I first starting making the marinade, I often found it lacking. I've honed this recipe to perfection over time and learned the art of preparing a tikka marinade that truly delivers! Here are few tips for an outstanding chicken tikka marinade:

• Full Fat and mildly tangy dahi (yogurt) - Full-fat yogurt is an essential, make sure that it's not watery(else marinade will not coat the chicken). In India, we often use hung curd for this purpose. Greek yogurt is an excellent choice- plain whole milk greek yogurt that isnt too sour strikes the right balance with the spices that we are going to add.
• Good quality ground spices - They make all the difference! I won't use spices that are more than 3 months old on my pantry shelf. Homemade spice blends like garam masala powder are a real game-changer. See that vibrant color on the tikka marinade? No artificial food coloring needed! It's all thanks to the perfect mix of Kashmiri red chili powder and bit of turmeric powder. Pretty impressive, right?
• Use oil in the marinade- I use mustard oil, it is traditionally used in indian tikka and kebab marinades. Mustard oil lends a distinctive smoky flavor to the marinade. If mustard oil isn't available, melted ghee is a fine substitute with its rich and nutty aroma. Neutral oils won't suffice here. Avoid butter as it tends to burn due to its low smoking point.
• Marinate the marinade - That's my little secret: After preparing the marinade, I let it rest for 1-2 hours, or ideally, 5-6 hours if time permits. This allows aromatic ingredients like ginger paste, garlic paste, kasuri methi, and ground spices to meld together, hence enhancing the marinade's flavor significantly!
• Two Rounds of Marination - First marination is simply rubbing the chicken with lemon juice, garlic and ginger, this immediatley starts tenderizing the chicken and also takes care of foul smell if any in the chicken. Thereafter, second marination is when we add yogurt and aromatic spices to the chicken and leave it to absorb flavor and tenderize further.

Which cut of Chicken to Use

We love chicken dark meat and I love using chicken thighs in most of my chicken dishes including chicken tikka recipe. Use skinless, boneless chicken thighs. Not only are the chicken thighs more flavorful, they are less prone to drying out when exposed to high heat and hence are more forgiving to cook, especially if you plan to cook chicken tikka on open fire on the outdoor grill. But, if you like boneless chicken breast, go for it!

For best results, use a sharp knife to cut chicken thighs into 2 to 2.5-inch pieces. Since the meat shrinks significantly during high-heat cooking, cutting larger pieces ensures the tikka remains juicy and chunky and does not dry out.

How To Make Tandoori Chicken Tikka

First Marination

1. In a large bowl, add the chicken pieces. To the chicken, add lemon juice or lime juice, garlic paste, ginger paste, salt and red chili powder.
2. Using hands (wear food safe gloves!) mix together so that the chicken is coated very well. Cover and leave to marinate, refrigerated, for 30-45 minutes.

Prepare the Tandoori Marinade

3. In another large mixing bowl,add all the ingredients listed under second marinade.
4. Using a whisk, mix until smooth. Let the tikka marinade stand or you can refrigerate this tandoori marinade for later use for 3-4 days.

Tip - Make sure that the tikka marinade is not too runny else it will slip off the chicken.

Second Marinade

5. After first marination,discard the excess water if any collected at the bottom of the bowl. Then add the chicken to the tandoori marinade. Add the chicken to the marinade (or vice versa) and use your hands to toss the pieces of chicken in the marinade. Make sure that the chicken is coated very well.
6. Cover and leave the chicken to marinate, refrigerated for at least 8 hours (the longer you marinate, the better the taste). I marinate it for up to 2 to 3 days sometimes. This is excellent for meal prep!

Smoke The Tikka

This is an optional step. For enhanced smokiness, you could give dhungar to the marinated chicken. Simply place a small bowl or an onion petal over the chicken and place a burning piece of charcaol over it. Drizzle 1-2 drops of melted ghee and cover the bowl immediately to trap the smoke. Let smoke for maximum of 1-2 minutes else the smokiness may get unpleasantly overpowering. Do this step right before proceeding to cook the chicken tikka.

Cook Chicken Tikka

Take the marinated chicken out of the refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking. I like to thread the chicken on to metal skewers. If you are using bamboo skewers or wooden skewers, soak them for 30-40 minutes in water, pat dry and then thread the chicken tikka on them.

Use any one of the below methods to cook the chicken tikka on high heat. I like to cook chicken tikka on stove top or the air fryer.

Chicken Tikka on Stove Top

I prefer using cast iron grill pan. You could use a normal cast iron pan or a non stick pan works fine too. Let the grill pan heat up on high flame. Spray the grill pan liberally with oil or ghee. Place the chicken skewers in a single layer on the pan. You will hear a sear sound! Let the chicken cook for 5-7 minutes and then carefully, using tongs, flip to cook on other side for 3-4 minutes.

Rotate the chicken skewers briefly on all other sides to cook very well. Don't be shy to spray oil or brush melted ghee on tikka as needed while cooking. Once the tikka are ready, brush with melted butter and sprinkle chaat masala right away.

Tip - Don't skimp on oil while making chicken tikka. Oil helps keep the tikka moist and prevents sticking as well.

Chicken Tikka in The Air Fryer

If you are using air fryer, no need to use skewers. Simply layer the marinated tikka on the air fryer basket(use paper liners for easy cleaning). Air fry the chicken tikka at 450F for about 10-13 minutes in total, flipping them mid way for even cooking. Once the tikka are ready, brush with butter and sprinkle chaat masala right before serving.

Oven Chicken Tikka

Preheat oven to 450F. Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper(this helps cleaning). Place the chicken tikka skewers such that the skewers rest on the edges of the baking sheet(choose the size of baking tray accordingly). This placement makes for a crisper chicken tikka.

Spray or brush chicked cubes with oil. Bake the chicken tikka for 10-12 minutes. Open the oven door, pull out of the baking sheet out of the oven. Using tongs flip the skewers and spray again with oil. Bake for another 9-10 minutes or until the chicken tikka have browned edges. If you prefer extra charred tikka, place under a broiler for 1-2 minutes.

Serving Ideas

• Traditional Indian way(Restaurant Style) - Serve warm chicken tikka as an appetizer or starter with accompainments such as green chutney(cilantro chutney), sweet tamarind chutney, red onion slices and lemon wedges.
• Make Wraps or Kathi Rolls - Wrap up chicken tikka in indian flatbreads such as paratha or naan along with green chutney, sprinkle of chaat masala and kachumber for a satisfying lunch or snack.
• You could add cut up chicken tikka over pizza base, in salads with greens or to sandwiches(cheesy chicken tikka sandwiches are my favorite) for fun fusion meals.
• Last but not the least, serve chicken tikka for main course with simple pulao such as egg pulao, yakhni pulao or mushroom pulao. If you want to serve with steamed rice or jeera rice, I recommend adding a bowl of raita and mint chutney or cilantro chutney.

More Recipe Tips

• If you prefer, you could skewer vegetables like bell peppers, onions, zucchini or cherry tomatoes with the chicken tikka. Cut the vegetables thick and large in size so that they don't overcook while chicken tikka is finishing cooking.
• If you feel that your marinade has become runny, add 1-2 teaspoon of dry roasted besan (gram flour) or little bit of cornstarch to thicken it.
• For a "yellowish" looking chicken tikka, reduce the quantity of kashmiri chilli powder and use ¼ teaspoon turmeric.
• The cooking times I have mentioned above are for tikka using chicken thighs. Adjust the cooking time if you are using chicken breast. Chicken breast tikka will cook quickly.