Say hello to Bihari Chicken Tikka, daughter of the OG chicken tikka and Bihari kababs. Marinated in a delicious homemade spicy yogurt mix, this melt-in-your-mouth type Tikka variation is going to be your next go-to dinner recipe. Bonus, I share how to make these on the pan, charcoal grill, in the oven, and an air fryer.
Bihari kababs and Chicken tikkas are both super popular Indo-Pakistani barbecue delicacies. Bihari kababs come from the land of Bihar, made traditionally with beef. Their key traits are subtle spice levels and silky smooth melt-in-mouth protein texture. So naturally, I just hadddd to create a fusion recipe, yaáll know how much I love that. Taking the characteristics of the Bihari kababs, I made a spice blend, fit for a gorgeous chicken tikka!
This tikka is such a great example of South Asian recipes where even low spice levels bring about super flavorful dishes, just like the great Balochistani Chicken Sajji or the subtle crispy aloo bhujia. Ok, I am tooooo excited! Let’s begin!
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Ingredients and Substitutions
This recipe uses some basic Pakistani spices, vegetables, chicken and some pantry staples. Here are a couple of pointers about the ingredients.
- Skinless Chicken – For a proper tikka cut you either need breast pieces with wings attached or whole chicken legs. You also have to deeply score the chicken along the lengths to allow the marinate to seep in.
- Neutral Oil – Any vegetable oil, ghee or butter will do.
- Spices – Salt, red chili powder, cumin powder, black pepper, and garam masala powder.
- Fried Onions – Crispy brown fried onions are easily available in any Indian Pakistani grocery store, if you don’t want to fry it yourself. I usually fry some at home, takes around 5 minutes. You can use my crispy fried onions tutorial if you have questions.
- Yogurt
- Ginger garlic paste
- Meat Tenderizer – see “Tenderzing the chicken” section below
- Optional – Coal for smoke and roasted poppy seeds. Both are flavor and aroma enhancers and are easily skippable if you don’t have them on hand.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Tenderizing the Chicken
The chicken texture for this tikka is super soft and more like kababs. To achieve this texture you need to add a meat tenderizer to the chicken.
- Raw papaya paste – This is the best, tasteless option out there. You simply buy a jar of green papaya paste or whip up some at home. This will give you the exact texture we are going for.
- Meat tenderizers. 1/2 teaspoon of a meat tenderizer will also get the job done.
- Yogurt and Vinegar – This is a weak tenderizer. You need overnight marination for this combination to work on the chicken muscle fibers.
IMPORTANT TIP: Once you’ve added the papaya paste or meat tenderizer to your chicken, DO NOT marinate for more than 2 hours. If you prefer longer marination times, go for yogurt and vinegar instead.
Instructions
I’ve put together all the steps in a simple pictorial for you to see how easy this is to make.
STEP 1 Wash and pat the chicken dry. Deeply Score the chicken pieces along their length.
STEP 2 Combine all ingredients for the tikka marinade in a blender.
STEP 3 Make a smooth paste.
STEP 4 Marinate the chicken for 1 hour making sure all the cuts are deeply penetrated
STEP 5 Layout the chicken onto a lined baking tray.
STEP 6 Bake for 20 to 25 mins at 180C or 375F, flipping halfway through. Glaze with any leftover marinade when flipping.
PROPTIP: Turn on the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes towards the end to get that nice grilled/charred crispy bits.
Expert Tips
Here’s a recap of all the things that’ll make you ace this recipe:
- Score the chicken pieces deeply to allow the marination to penetrate through.
- Don’t throw away any leftover marinade. Glaze it on the chicken when you flip it over.
- If you are baking the tikka, turn on the broiler for the last 1 to 2 minutes to give it that charred crispy top.
- If you are marinating the chicken in advance for a barbecue party, skip the meat tenderizer and only add it 30 to 40 minutes before grilling or baking.
- Go for bigger chicken cuts for this recipe to give it the proper chicken tikka feel.
- Glazer the chicken with oil after once ready, to prevent it from drying out.
Pairing and serving suggestions
Honestly, it works perfectly as a stand-alone dish. Serve it with sliced onions and lemon on top with mint green chutney on the side. Damnnnnn, I am salivating. But on days, you feel like having “meals” type meals, here are some classic suggestions
- Pair with a homemade paratha, roti, or naan.
- If you are leaning towards flatbreads, a side of aloo ki tarkari (potato curry) or cholay ka salan (chickpea curry) would go perfectly with it.
- To keep it low-carb, pair it with a hearty nice salad like my evergreen kachumbar salad.
- A simple pea pulao/ matar pulao and yogurt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, double the quantity of lemon juice and add vinegar.
So like I said, this recipe has a mild to moderate heat level, you can increase the heat by adding more red chili powder or black pepper powder
Yes! Just reduce the salt level for boneless chicken.
Oh yes! This recipe is very freezer-friendly. If you wish to freeze marinated chicken, skip your meat tenderizer/papaya pastes from the marinade. When you want to cook, let the chicken thaw in the fridge overnight. You can also freeze cooked Bihari Tikka in an airtight container or a ziplock bag.
Similar Recipes for you
If you liked my Bihari tikka, you will love these Pakistani Chicken recipes.
Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!
Bihari Chicken Tikka
Ingredients
- 4 pieces Chicken legs with thighs, skin removed and cuts along the length of the pieces. around 1 kg chicken
- Oil for cooking
- 1 piece coal for smoke
Chicken Marinade
- 1 large onion sliced and fried golden or 1/2 cup or prefried onions
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- 2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 teaspoon cumin seed powder roasted is even better
- 2 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 2 tablespoon raw papaya paste or 1/2 teaspoon meat tenderizer.
- 1 tsp roasted poppy seeds optional
- 2 tablespoon oil
Instructions
- Wash and pat your chicken dry. Add cuts along the lengths of your chicken pieces.
- Add all the ingredients of the marinade to a blender. Make a smooth paste.
- Marinate the chicken pieces in the heavy marinade, covering all the slits. Cover the chicken and let it marinade for 2 hours not more. (If you wish to marinate longer or overnight, then skip the papaya paste)
- Remove the chicken from the fridge atleast 30 mins before you plan to cook it.
Cooking Methods
- On a BBQ grill – This is pretty straightforward. You fire up your grill and grill on both sides till it's nice and charred.
- Pan frying.Pan fry the pieces on a grill pan at high heat on both sides for about 4 mins each. Then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and let it cook for another 10 minutes. You can smoke coal at this point if you like.
- Baking and air frying- Preheat oven to 180 ℃ or 375 ℉. Grease a pan with oil or butter and place your chicken pieces on it. Coat the chicken with oil as well. Bake for 20 mins, 10 mins on each side. You can glaze the pieces with oil or leftover marinade when you flip them over. Broil for 1 minute towards the end for a nice charred finish. You can smoke it with coal at this point if you like.
- Serve with some extra lemon slices to squeeze on top, onion slices and mint chutney.
Notes
- The spice level of Bihari Chicken tikka is mostly moderate, you can add more red chili if you’d like a high spice level.
- You can prepare all types of chicken cuts with the same marination. Reduce the salt to 1 tsp if using small boneless cubes.
- For a dairy-free recipe, you can substitute yogurt with 4 tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of vinegar.
- Raw papaya paste makes the chicken super tender and gives you an authentic Bihari chicken texture. DO NOT leave the chicken uncooked for more than 4 hours the marination has papaya paste.
- If you don’t have the paste, then marinate your chicken overnight to allow the lemon and yogurt to soften the chicken.
- You can use the same recipe on fish fillets
Questions? Thoughts? Leave them below