Oven Baked Chicken Tikka Skewers

Hello and welcome to Djalali Cooks! I am back from my River Cruise on the American Queen Steamboat, and while I loved the trip and being on the steamboat, it’s always so nice to come home. To ease back into things, today I have a really easy recipe for Chicken Tikka Skewers. Traditionally Indian Chicken Tikka is cooked in a clay tandoor oven, but this recipe keeps it really simple by baking the chicken. We will marinate the chicken in two marinades to really impart the flavors of the spices and the yogurt. Let’s get to it!

This recipe comes from Chintan Pandya and I found it via NYT Cooking. We will marinate the chicken twice, once for a quick 10 minutes and then a longer 2-3 hour marinate time. The first marinade is a ginger garlic paste with malt vinegar. Add the peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger, along with 6-8 peeled garlic cloves to a blender or mini food processor. You can do it with a mortar and pestle, if that’s what you have. Once the ginger and the garlic is ground to a thick paste, add about 1/4 cup water to thin the paste. Stir it well to combine.

Ginger Garlic Marinade

Cut the chicken thighs into 2-inch chunks and add to a medium bowl. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of kosher salt. Add 4 teaspoons of the ginger garlic paste and 1/4 cup malt vinegar. Stir to coat the chicken in the marinade and let sit at room temp for 10 minutes.

Yogurt Marinade

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of plain yogurt, 3 tablespoons of malt vinegar, 2 tablespoons of smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons of Guajillo Chile powder, 1 tablespoon of garam masala, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, 2 teaspoons kosher salt and 4 teaspoons of the ginger garlic paste. Stir well to combine and make a smooth marinade.

Transfer the chicken pieces to the large bowl with the yogurt marinade, taking care to leave behind any liquid that collected in the first bowl. Toss the chicken pieces in the yogurt marinade to coat. cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Then, place a wire rack in a large sheet tray. Skewer the marinated chicken pieces and set the skewers on the wire rack.

Bake the chicken for about 20 minutes. Then baste the skewers with the melted butter and place back in the oven for 20 minutes more, until the chicken is cooked though.

Let the chicken cool for about 5 minutes before pulling the skewers out. Serve the Chicken Tikka over rice with more yogurt and chutneys if you like. Also serve with Indian flatbread such as Naan or Roti, lemon wedges and fresh cilantro sprigs.

Oven Baked Chicken Tikka Skewers

These Oven Baked Chicken Tikka Skewers are flavored so beautifully! Savory, yet bright thanks to the yogurt and the ginger. Such a great combination of flavors with chutneys and rice. Making Indian food at home can seem intimidating, but this recipe is so easy and aside from the passive marinating time, it’s really quick. I hope you give this one a try, it’s a winner! I did another recipe recently that called for ginger garlic paste, if you want to try that one to use up the extra ginger garlic paste from this recipe, try Easy Indian Butter Chicken. In that recipe I made the ginger garlic paste in the mortar and pestle and I didn’t add water to thin it out, but today’s method will work just for that too. Take care and be well! xo Kelly

Key Equipment

Print Recipe

Oven Baked Chicken Tikka Skewers

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Dinner, Main Course – Indian

By Chintan Pandya, via NYT Cooking – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 10 Minutes, plus 2-3 hours marinating time – Cooking Time: 35-40 Minutes – Total Time: 45-50 Minutes, plus 2-3 hours marinating time

Bring the tandoori-cooked flavors of Chicken Tikka to dinner with this easy recipe for Oven Baked Chicken Tikka Skewers.

Ingredients

• Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 (2-inch piece) Fresh Ginger, peeled
• 6 Garlic Cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup Water
• Ginger Garlic Marinade
• 4 tsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1/4 cup Malt Vinegar
• 2.5 lbs. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
• Yogurt Marinade
• 3 tbsp. Malt Vinegar
• 2 tsp. Kosher Salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
• 4 tsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 cup Plain Yogurt
• 2 tbsp. Smoked Paprika
• 2 tsp. Guajillo Chile Powder
• 1 tbsp. Garam Masala
• 1 tsp. Ground Turmeric
• Chicken Baste
• Optional: 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter, for basting the chicken skewers
• To Serve
• Cooked Rice
• Lemon Wedges
• Plain Yogurt
• Chutneys
• Cilantro Leaves
• Indian Flatbread

Instructions

Ginger Garlic Paste

1

Add the peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger, along with 6-8 peeled garlic cloves to a blender or mini food processor. You can do it with a mortar and pestle, if that's what you have. Once the ginger and the garlic is ground to a thick paste, add about 1/4 cup water to thin the paste. Stir it well to combine.

Ginger Garlic Marinade

2

Place the cut chicken thighs in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of kosher salt. Add 4 teaspoons of the ginger garlic paste and 1/4 cup malt vinegar. Stir to coat the chicken in the marinade and let sit at room temp for 10 minutes.

Yogurt Marinade

3

In a large bowl, combine the plain yogurt, 3 tablespoons of malt vinegar, smoked paprika, Guajillo Chile powder, garam masala, turmeric, kosher salt and 4 teaspoons of the ginger garlic paste. Stir well to combine and make a smooth marinade.

4

Transfer the chicken pieces to the large bowl with the yogurt marinade, taking care to leave behind any liquid that collected in the first bowl.

5

Toss the chicken pieces in the yogurt marinade to coat. cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Chicken

6

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Then, place a wire rack in a large sheet tray. Skewer the marinated chicken pieces and set the skewers on the wire rack.

7

Bake the chicken for about 20 minutes. Then baste the skewers with the melted butter and place back in the oven for 20 minutes more, until the chicken is cooked though.

8

Let the chicken cool for about 5 minutes before pulling the skewers out.

9

Serve the Chicken Tikka over rice with more yogurt and chutneys if you like. Also serve with Indian flatbread such as Naan or Roti, lemon wedges and fresh cilantro sprigs.

This post may contain affiliate links; when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission on qualifying items.