How can I prevent a thick layer of tikka marinade on my chicken? I make chicken tikka on and off and I normally marinade the meat for over 24 hours every time I do it. I notice that, after grilling the chicken it still has a cake-like coating. I have noticed this regardless of whether I use yogurt in my marinade or not. Is there anything I could do to get more of a drier, less cakey coating in the end product?
Use a higher chicken-to-marinade ratio, so a small amount of chicken isn't sitting in masses of marinade. If you see chicken tikka marinading in a restaurant, you'll note that is only lightly coated.
Failing 1., simply wipe off the excess marinade before cooking.