Dishoom's chicken tikka

Name: Dishoom chicken tikka
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings

The popular Bombay restaurant chain's recipe for spicy chicken tikka makes an excellent starter or lunch.

Grilled cubes of chicken on a black plate with a lime slice

Published - 15 Dec 2025

Chicken tikka masala is supposedly Britain’s favourite dish. If it’s yours, then you may be disappointed: this dish is not it.

Tikka simply means piece, or chunk – so this is chicken pieces, marinated then grilled. The marinade is based on sweet vinegar, not yoghurt – and there’s not a drop of food colouring in sight.

Cooking time

20 mins

Serves

Ingredients

500g boneless chicken thighs, with skin

For the marinade

30g fresh root ginger
10g garlic (2–3 cloves)
10g green chillies (2–3)
30ml rice vinegar
1 tsp Deggi Mirch chilli powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1½ tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil

To grill and serve

25g unsalted butter, melted
Lime wedges

Method

Cut each chicken thigh into 3 pieces and pat dry with kitchen paper. Place in a large bowl.
For the marinade, blitz the ingredients together in a blender or mini food processor to a smooth paste.
Spoon the marinade over the chicken pieces and turn them to coat. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 6–24 hours.
Take the marinated chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking. (If you are using wooden skewers, soak them now.)
Heat the grill to high. Thread the marinated chicken onto skewers, leaving enough space between the pieces for the heat to penetrate. Grill for 12–15 minutes, turning and basting regularly with the melted butter, until deep golden brown with some charring. Check that the chicken pieces are cooked through.
Let the cooked chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving, with lime wedges for squeezing.

Dishoom by Shamil Thakrar, Kavi Thakrar & Naved Nasir (Bloomsbury), RRP £26. Photography © Haarala Hamilton

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