Cooking Therapy

One of my favorite Indian foods is Chicken Tikka Masala. So, since I have been craving some Indian food, I decided to take a stab at it and make my own, and I got to say, it came out incredible. While I was making the sauce, it reminded me of making vodka sauce at the prior Italian restaurants I worked at, but without the vodka. I ate so much of it, that I ended up getting the itis. I even made some homemade naan for it, for which you could find the recipe when you click here. Try yours today!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

Wait time: 1 hours

Ingredients

            For the chicken and its marinade

2 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts diced into nice large chunks

1 cup plain full-fat yogurt

2 teaspoons turmeric

2 teaspoons of coriander

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of garam masala

1 tablespoon lemon juice (about half a lemon)

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried ginger

2 teaspoons red chili flakes

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne

            For the Sauce

2 tablespoons of butter

1 medium red onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 chunk of fresh ginger root, about 1 tablespoon, minced

2 teaspoons of garam masala

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of coriander

14 ounces of fresh or canned tomato sauce

2 cups of heavy cream

Instructions

• In a large metal bowl, combine the chicken and all its marinade ingredients. Refrigerate for about an hour or overnight if you would like

• When it is ready to cook, in a large Dutch oven or deep skillet, add the chicken chunks one by one to cook over a medium-high heat. Be sure not to crowd them. Cook them evenly about 2-3 minutes on each side depending on the size of the chunk. Remove them and place them in a paper towel lined plate. The chicken will cook more once it gets added to the sauce

• Once all the chicken chunks have been cooked, remove any excess liquid from the pan. Add the butter and melt it, combining it with the leftover remnants of the cooked chicken
• Sauté the onions until they are fragrant and become translucent. Then add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant and they begin to soften. Add the spices and toast them for about 20 seconds in the pan, then begin to mix them with the onions and garlic.
• Add the tomato sauce and mix. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes

• Then add the heavy cream and mix. Add the chicken and decrease heat to medium
• Let the chicken simmer in the sauce until the sauce begins to thicken and reduce

• Once the chicken has reduced, top with some chopped cilantro. Serve with some jasmine rice and naan bread. Click here  for Naan bread recipe!
• Enjoy!