The perfect tikka masala

Award-winning chef Enam Ali uses only natural foods to achieve the distinctive colour of chicken tikka masala.

Huge demand for the dish means restaurant chefs often rely on colourants to give the sauce its bright orangey-red colour.

Mr Ali, 43, of Epsom's Le Raj restaurant, who has revealed the secret of his tikka masala recipe, above, says: "Using colourants isn't really necessary as there are natural substitutes that also work - mainly tomato, red pepper and beetroot purÈes mixed together.

"A lot of chefs use food colourings because customers complain if the sauce isn't red enough - they think that it should be brighter. When the chefs try to use natural ingredients, the colour can fade."

Yet the idea that there is an authentic colour for the dish is false, as it was created to suit British tastes, he said. "Chicken tikka masala isn't an Indian dish at all, so you can't really say how red it should be."

Ingredients

yoghurt
ground cinnamon
cardamon
star anise
turmeric
garam masala spices
coconut
ginger
salt
garlic
tomato
red pepper
beetroot purees (to give it the right colouring)