Chicken Tikka Masala

Often when I get up in the morning, my husband has already left for work and he’s left the TV on the Weather Channel. I grab a cup of coffee and my laptop and sit on the couch for a few minutes until I catch the Local on the 8’s. Then I usually flip the channel to BBC America and leave the news on in the background while I am getting ready to go to school. Well, leaving BBC America on in the morning has created a little Gordon Ramsay obsession for me. You see, Kitchen Nightmares comes on at 8 am and so I sometimes watch about half the show while I am eating breakfast before I catch the bus. In any case, I managed to watch a few episodes of the f word as well, though I think Kitchen Nightmares is my fave! This led me to visit Channel 4s food page and I found this Chicken Tikka recipe.

In 2T oil I cooked 1 onion halved and sliced thinly for about 3 minutes. Then I added 2 green serrano peppers (deseeded and chopped), 3 cloves of garlic (pressed), and slightly more than an inch piece of ginger (grated).

I cooked this for 2-3 minutes. I added the chili powder (1/2t), tumeric (1t), garam masala (2t) and brown sugar (1T). I stirred this and let it cook for another couple of minutes until it was quite fragrant.This step really helps the aromatics of the spices come out so the deep flavor of the sauce can develop.

I then added tomato paste (1T) and diced tomatoes (1 14 oz can). (I really like the Muir Glen Fire Roasted tomatoes!) I let this simmer for 3-5 minutes and turned off the heat. This is a good stopping point if you want to leave the sauce to sit before you cook the meat.

I used 2 chicken breasts (the recipe calls for 4) and it was a good ratio of meat to sauce but then again, I love sauce!

I diced the chicken and put it in the empty (but not clean) pan with 1T additional oil. I let it get color on all sides but I didn’t cook it all the way through. I added the sauce back and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Next, I put the sauce in the food processor and blended it until smooth. I served this over basmati rice, with yogurt and cilantro. Yum!