Sunday, March 13, 2011

Chicken Tikka Masala

This recipe is from Food & Wine online. A direct link can be found at the bottom of this post. I have never made an Indian recipe before, but I found it quite easy and full of flavor! I encourage everyone to try it. I prepared this recipe for a fellow Redditor and thank them for the suggestion!



Here are the ingredients.

Prepare the marinade for the chicken! Combine the yogurt, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cardamom, cayenne, turmeric, salt and pepper.

All the ingredients mixed together. I used greek yogurt, so it was a bit thicker than if I used regular yogurt. It was still a great marinade.

 Now, the recipe calls for the chicken to have shallow slits in each piece. I forgot this step, but did it before I put it in the oven. Either way will work fine. I massaged each piece of chicken with the marinade. The recipe calls to marinade it overnight. I have a vacuum sealer that has a marinade option on it. I had it in the container for about an hour. The flavors were still fantastic.

The chicken on a foiled pan (easier cleaning!) ready to go into the oven. This is the step that I cut the slits in the chicken.

Preheat the broiler!

 Pan of chicken in the oven under the broiler. Flip each piece one or twice in the broiling process. It should take around 12 minutes to cook the chicken fully.

Chicken ready! The browning is perfect.

Steam coming off... smells so good.

Cut up the chicken into pieces.

Blanch the almonds. (You could buy them already blanched, but it only takes a moment so I do it myself) Boil some water and drop the almonds into the boil for a few minutes.

Remove the skins from the almonds. They should slide right off.

Heat one teaspoon of oil in a pan and cook over medium heat until browned.

Transfer the almonds to a plate and let them cool. 
After the almonds are cool, pulse them until they are finely ground. I left a few larger pieces in there. It adds a nice surprise and boost of flavor when you get it in a bite.

Chop your onion, garlic and ginger.

In a pan, brown the onion.

Add the garlic and ginger.

Measure out the garam masala, chile powder and cayenne pepper.

Add the seasoning to the onion, garlic and ginger.

The onions, garlic and ginger covered in the seasoning. Not burnt!

The recipe calls for a can of peeled tomatoes finely chopped. I could have used diced tomatoes, but I bought whole canned tomatoes and chopped them up myself.

Add the tomatoes and juice/puree to the pan with a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper. Cover partially and cook over moderate heat for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the almonds.

Add the heavy cream.

Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until thickened. Around ten minutes.

Add the chicken.

Let it simmer for about ten minutes.

 All done!



This recipe is not my own and I cannot take credit. It can be found at:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-tikka-masala

What makes up this delicious dish?

Masala Marinade:
-1 cup plain low-fat yogurt (I used non-fat greek yogurt)
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
-1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
-1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
-1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric
-salt and pepper

Chicken:
-2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, fat trimmed (I used chicken breasts)
-salt and pepper
-2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
-1/4 Cup blanched whole almonds (I blanched my own, but they can be bought this way)
-1 large onion, finely chopped
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
-1 1/2 tablespoon garam masala (hot curry, I used mild)
-1 1/2 teaspoons pure chile powder
-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-35 ounce can peeled tomatoes, finely chopped, juice reserved
-pinch of sugar
-1 cup heavy cream

Enjoy!

<3
J

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