I don’t live anywhere near Punjabi Tandoor (hole in the wall Indian place in Miramar] anymore so I don’t get my Indian fix every once in awhile. In fact, I haven’t had Indian food for like a year now and was eager to make some to cure my craving! As much as I love healthy food, I love heavy creamy foods too sometimes. I have made chicken tikka masala a lot before, but I never got the orange hue like the restaurants. I figured out my problem- I was using canned diced tomatoes, or I wanted to be healthy so I substituted heavy cream with normal milk, or added too much spices. But this time, I followed a great
All Recipes recipe and even bought canned tomato
sauce (not canned diced tomatoes) and it turned out perfectly! It tastes just like the restaurants and I am so proud! I don’t have a grill so I don’t grill the chicken like you are supposed to, but since the chicken is drowned in sauce, it doesn’t really matter. I totally love it and am so excited to share it with you!!!
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
1 cup yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice, or half a lemon
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp minced or grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp salt
4 chicken thighs, boneless, chopped
Tikka Masala
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric, optional
1/2 tsp salt, to taste
1 15 oz can tomato sauce (not diced, or crushed)
1 cup heavy cream
cilantro, optional
1. In a large bowl, mix the yogurt, spices, lemon juice, ginger, and salt. Add the chicken and mix. Marinate covered for 2-4 hours.
2. In large pan, heat up some olive oil on med-high. Throw in the chicken pieces using tongs or chopsticks and wipe off excess yogurt on the sides of the bowl. Cook on med-high heat until chicken is done and there is no more excess liquid or yogurt. Set aside.
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| Beginning. |
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| Chicken is done. |
3. In a large pan, heat up some olive oil and toast the garlic and jalapenos. Add the cumin, paprika, salt and turmeric and immediately add the can of tomato sauce and cream.
4. Stir around, and adjust seasoning and salt to your liking. I don’t like mine too spicy so I didn’t add extra black or cayenne pepper. Let it come to a soft simmer.
5. Add chicken and stir.
6. Top with cilantro and serve with rice or naan or both!!
Put a Ring on Annie 