Chicken Tikka Masala
First of all I’d like to say thanks SO much for everyone who voted for me in the Foodbuzz Project Food Blog. I made it through the first round and now it’s time for Challenge #2. For the second challenge, we are all supposed to tackle an ethnic food that we aren’t familiar with.
A little known fact about Hubby is that he lived in India for three months. A few years ago he had the opportunity to move there for a short term work assignment. He and two friends had a great time traveling the world while I held down the fort back in Ohio.
One of Hubby’s friends got pick-pocketed by a monkey!
Prior to Hubby living in India, neither of us had ever eaten Indian food more than maybe once or twice. But after his three month trip, he hooked! His new love of Indian food meant we had it in the house more often. Then I started to fall in love with Indian food as well. We have always just relied on restaurants to provide our Indian food fix (btw, we have tried quite a few places since moving to Boston and have found two favorites in the area).
As you may remember, I did challenge myself to make Indian food during my 30-by-30 and when this challenge was posted, I just knew I had to tackle Indian food. Hubby’s all time favorite Indian meal is Chicken Tikka Masala. He always gets it when we eat Indian (I always get chicken tikka saag).
I obviously don’t have a tandoori oven to cook the chicken in, but I made do with the oven I do have. The one main ingredient that we didn’t have in the house was Garam Masala. When you smell this spice, it takes you straight to India (that’s what Hubby always says at least). We are fortunate enough to live near a small Indian convenience shop. We stopped in for the first time ever and enjoyed the sights and smells that hit us at the door.
This dish turned out amazingly. It does require a bit of work, but it’s worth it in the end! If you haven’t tried Indian food at home, this is a great place to start. Of course, it’s great served with homemade Garlic Naan!
Chicken Tikka Masala
Yield: 6
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
Kosher Salt
Ground coriander
Cumin
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
6 Tbsp butter
1 whole large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 piece (approximately 2 Inches) fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 Tbsp Garam Masala
Chili peppers (optional)
1 can (28 Ounce) diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups Basmati rice
Fresh cilantro
Turmeric
Frozen peas
Directions:
Season the chicken with kosher salt. Sprinkle both sides with coriander and cumin. Cover the chicken completely with the yogurt.
Place a metal cooling rack over a foil lined baking sheet. Place chicken on the cooling rack. Place the baking sheet about 10 inches below a broiler for 5-7 minutes per side. Be sure to watch the chicken so it doesn't burn - it should be slightly blackened on the edges.
Remove the chicken from the oven.
In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and saute until they are slightly browned. Add the garlic and ginger to the onions and 1 Tbsp of salt.
Add the garam masala to the onions. If you want some heat, add hot chili peppers. Then add the can of diced tomatoes. Continue to cook, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Add the sugar and let simmer on medium for a few minutes.
Cook the Basmati rice in a rice cooker with 4 Tbsp butter, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp Tumeric, and 4 cups of water.
After the Tikka Masala sauce has had a chance to simmer for a little bit, add in the heavy cream.
Chop the chicken breasts into chunks and stir them into the Tikka Masala sauce. Add a handfull of chopped fresh cilantro. Throw frozen peas into the cooked rice, and stir. The heat of the rice to cook the peas. Serve the rice with the Chicken Tikka Masala over top. Serve with Garlic Naan.
Recipe from The Pioneer Woman
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I am obsessed with your crockpot chicken tacos and am sure this is going to be another favorite crockpot chicken recipe in our house!
P.S. I had a cake craving last night and jumped on your blog to look up cupcake recipes… you have 101 cupcake recipes?!!
beantownbaker — February 24th, 2011 @ 9:03 pm
Yea… about those cupcakes. I went through a phase at the beginning of my blog. And I’ve been blogging 3.5 years, so that’s really only about 30/year…
I think I would LOVE this recipe! Bret loves pulled chicken and I love slow cooker recipes!
Yum, my husband would totally love this!!
Sounds delicious and perfect for leaving in the pot before work and coming home to wonderfully cooked chicken. Can’t wait to try it!
I love this kind of stuff. We had beef dip sandwiches last night. SO GOOD. I bet we’ve love this too!
Sounds delicious, but I’m sure I’d have to just add one of those chiles 🙂
Yay! I love Pulled chicken sandwiches, I’m so glad you shared this recipe.
Nothing bad about pulled chicken. Nothing. Love all the flavors that the chicken was simmering in. Bet this was awesome!
This is the first time I’ve seen someone else use an Eating Well recipe! I like. 🙂 Also, this chicken looks fabulous and easy….nice work.
These look awesome and so easy to make! I love spicy pulled chicken and I love anything that you can just throw in the crockpot. Can’t wait to try them!
My husband and I made this last night for dinner and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Has anyone tried freezing this? I dont eat meat, but I am thinking about making this for my husband but there is no way he could eat a whole pot to himself.
beantownbaker — May 7th, 2012 @ 10:10 am
Like most crockpot meals, this meat freezes just fine. I like to portion it out into individual sized portions prior to freezing so you can just grab one and go.
Hi! I made this last year and it was a huge hit. I want to make it again for a holiday pot luck, but when I looked at the recipe today, it seemed to have the directions listed twice, and no ingredient amounts. I was able to find the recipe at eating Well, but wanted to let you know that there may be something wrong here.
beantownbaker — December 1st, 2013 @ 6:46 pm
Thanks for the update. I am fixing the post now. Glad this recipe was a success for you!
love Pulled chicken sandwiches,