Chicken tikka masala will taste better if you add 1 ingredient to sauce

There's nothing like a good curry, and there are some delicious recipes people can try to really warm themselves up during the autumn months. If you like your curry a little milder, a tikka masala may be for you.

This is because the curry can vary in spiciness from mild to medium, but it's not usually that hot. Instead, it often consists of a creamy, tomato-based sauce, so the level of heat depends on the recipe, specifically the amount and type of chili powder used, which can be adjusted to taste.

If you love tikka, but struggle to get it to taste delicious, there's a simple thing you can do to make it taste better. In fact, chicken curry is so simple to make you can whip up some versions in as little as 15 minutes.

Mimi Morley, Senior Recipe Development Manager at HelloFresh, is known for offering all sorts of cooking tips with the brand having thousands of followers online, and she recently shared some simple advice.

According to her, you only need one ingredient to take your chicken tikka to the next level, and you likely already have it at home. You may be surprised to hear what it is.

When it comes to jazzing up the dish, Mimi said to do the following: "Add a squirt of tomato ketchup to your sauce for a bit of a sweet/sour flavour injection!" According to the expert, that's all there is to it.

Little you may know, adding tomatoes, or a kind of tomato sauce, to chicken tikka masala can boost the flavour. It helps to give it a rich, tangy and vibrant taste.

While it's not traditional to use the ingredient, many claim it adds an extra sweet and tangy flavour to the dish. The key to pulling it off is using the ketchup in moderation as using too much can overpower the authentic flavours of the Indian spices.

However, if you don't like overly spicy food, the ketchup can help to mellow the heat. As well as this, good quality ketchups combine a balance of sweet, acidic and salty flavours that can boost the complexity of a tomato-based curry.

It turns out many other people like using the trick too. On Reddit, people have been quick to share how much they love using the staple ingredient when making curry.

While some people use the same method, others recommend different ways to boost the dish. People had all sorts of ideas to share.

One person said: "The ketchup is a wonderful combination of sweet, acidic, sour, salty and tangy. It is not distinguishable in the dish, but adds wonderful layer of complexity."

Another offered a different idea, writing: "I marinate the chicken in a yoghurt spice mix and then broil in the oven. It's so good, I sometimes eat the chicken by itself."

A third replied: "Depending on if, or how much tomato or tomato paste is in the simmer sauce, you can always add some more for a thicker sweeter masala."

Meanwhile, a fourth commented: "I use chicken thighs and coconut milk. I know that's not traditional, but it sweetens and mutes the tomato. The oil separates like that in all the traditional videos I've watched."