Chicken Tikka Masala

This is something I would maybe call weekend food. 

Or project food?  

Or fun food?  What I mean is, it's simple and delicious but takes a bit of time.  Maybe best for a night/day when you aren't racing around trying to pack for a trip that you're totally not prepared for while cleaning the house for the house-sitter and trying to remember 98237 things that need to get done before you leave when really all you want to do is have some dang dinner and go to bed.

That was me last night.  Ugh.  I'm in a plane right now. 

When you do have some time though, maybe an hour or two, you NEED to make this.  It is delicious.  You remember from when I made madras curry that my dad went to India and brought me some spices?  He did.  And I read and read and read about tikka masala because I love it so much in restaurants and wanted to make it.

And THEN Jay went out of town and the girls came over for dinner and we drank all the wine (no, really, all of it) and I made this for them.  It's such a great family-style meal - so flavorful and comforting and can be made HOURS in advance.  

I hope you like it!  Let's get down to it.  You need chicken, crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, chili pepper (fresh or flaked, whatevs), ginger, yogurt, salt, coriander, cumin, garam masala, and heavy cream.  That's cilantro for serving, which you can use or not.  Not so bad, right?  The garam masala is really what makes curry taste like curry so....find it.  It's available in most spice sections, so don't fret too much.  If you have more time than me, feel free to google and make your own.  Let me know how it goes, mmkay?  Show off.  

So, for the chicken.  We marinate it in the yogurt, then broil it for a nice charred flavor. First, sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt, coriander, and cumin - just light pinches of each. 

Then, dump the yogurt over the chicken - be sure you buy plain and not vanilla!  Those two words are not the same. 

Turn the chicken over in the yogurt so it's totally coated, then stick it in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes to 4 hours....just as long as you have.  Don't freak out about it too much, even a short marinating time will yield lovely chicken!  

For timing this meal, btw, you can do two things:  marinate the chicken and wander off, then boil the chicken while you make the curry separately and cook rice separately and be totally done in about 45 minutes. OR, you can marinate the chicken, and make the curry, then let the curry sit on the stove (turned off) until you're close to ready to eat, then broil the chicken at the last minute, throw it in, and call it a day.  It won't matter either way, trust me.  Just do what works with your busy life. 

ANYWAY.  The chicken.  Pretend it's done marinating, OK?  To broil it, I like to set tin foil in a baking sheet, then a rack over the foil.  Broil the chicken on the first side for 10 minutes or so - we want nice char marks to form.  Your broiling time will depend on how close your chicken is to the broiler - 8 inches or so is a good distance.  Check the chicken after a few minutes!  

Here's side one:

Flip the chicken, then broil it on the second side!

Here's side 2:

Now, of course this is happening while you live your life or make the curry - I'm just showing you all the chicken steps in a row for the sake of my sanity.  Let the chicken cool until you can handle it, and then use forks or your fingers to tear it into big chunks.  

Now, for the curry!  Preheat a big skillet to medium-high heat or so (we want the veggies to sizzle a bit but not brown), and thinly slice the onion. 

Add the onion to the pan with a sprinkle of salt.

While the onion starts cooking, thinly slice the pepper.

Then, add that to the pan too!

Now, crush the garlic lightly so you can remove the skins. 

Then mince the garlic finely by moving you knife over and over the cutting board.  Yum!

I like to grate ginger using a little handheld grater, but you can finely chop ½ inch or so of grated ginger if that's easier for you!

When the onion is just starting to get translucent, add the garlic, ginger, and garam masala to the pan.  

Stir the spices into the onion mixture for 1 minute until you can smell them, then add the crushed tomatoes.

And, stir THAT around. 

Now, grab the shredded chicken!  Toss it into the tomato mixture with the heavy cream.

Stir everything together, and taste - add more salt if you'd like, or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper - I did that for a little extra heat, and YUM.  So good. If you like a super creamy curry you can add a bit more cream, too, but I didn't find that to be necessary.  I like the tang of the tomatoes!

Now, it's time to serve!  I added a tiny bit of turmeric to my rice, and BOOM.  So pretty and yellow!  I like rice, cabbage, naan....whatever I'm feeling like, with curry.This was GREAT.  We had zero leftovers, and everyone commented on the lovely flavor.  

This is a really nice baby-curry too, for folks who haven't had Indian food before.  It's not spicy unless you want it to be, and the garam masala adds a nice flavor without being too intense.  Great for folks who aren't sure about the spice combos used here!

To serve on plates, I like to make a little well with the rice, then spoon curry right on top!

Just. Like. That.

I also like to eat this with spoons because it just...feels right to me. 

Any way you serve this, you'll love it.  Make it this weekend for anyone you want to stick around - this is a good friend-making recipe.  

Not that you need that.

Happy Weekend!