I love the flavour of Indian dishes but sometimes I just don’t feel like rice or bread. This is when I make myself this tikka masala pasta! I first had this pasta over ten years ago at an Indian fine dining restaurant in Bangkok. One drunken night, we stumbled upon this villa restaurant in Thong Lor and I just ordered something random. The order turned out to be an extremely flavourful tikka masala pasta and I’ve been looking to recreate that taste ever since.
In the traditional preparation, tikka masala sauce is always paired with a protein. Because this dish is fused with Italian cuisine, I prefer to keep it simple. Rather like an Indian arrabiata sauce, really! It’s all about the sauce for me. The only thing I like to add is some toasted cashews and a touch of fresh coriander.
This sauce is based on this paneer tikka masala recipe by Swasthi’s Recipes. Her site is amazing!
Tips
- If you are using tinned diced tomatoes, you may need to add more sugar as they tend to be more tart.
- Instead of freshly chopped ginger and garlic, you can also use bottled ginger garlic paste.
- Add other ingredients if you like! Firm tofu is a great substitute for paneer and would work well with this.
- Tikka masala is generally very mild in terms of spiciness. Add more chillies and chilli powder if you want it hot!
Ingredients
Instructions
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Toast the cashews in a pan with no oil until fragrant and set aside for later.
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Fry the red onions over medium heat until translucent then add the tomato, bird's eye chilli, sugar, and salt. Cook until the tomatoes are soft.
- Add the turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder, and chilli powder. Cook until it becomes thick like a paste.
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Remove the masala mixture from the heat. Add 1 cup of cold water. Leave to cool.
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Heat 1 tbsp of oil with cinnamon and cloves and fry until they are fragrant.
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Add the ginger and garlic or ginger garlic paste and fry until the garlic does not smell raw anymore.
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Add most of the cashews to the masala mixture, leaving a few for garnishing later. Blend the masala mixture and add back into the pan.
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Turn to low heat and cook slowly until it becomes a thick sauce.
- Cook linguine to al dente as per package instructions, reserving half a cup of the starchy water when done.
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Add the al dente pasta and starchy water to the tikka masala sauce and mix well until fully combined. Serve hot with coriander and remaining cashews.
