Exploring New Flavors
On birthdays and other special occasions, our family enjoys trying new food experiences. We have our favorite places of course, but we try to mix it up by finding restaurants (or cuisines) we haven’t tried. We have a great time together and manage to expand our food horizons at the same time. For my birthday in December we tried a new Indian restaurant in the area…shared all of the dishes around the table, and left nothing but crumbs!
One of the favorite dishes of the night was the Chicken Tikka Masala. There is some disagreement among culinary historians about the origin of the dish, with some believing it originated in the kitchen of a Bangladeshi chef in one of Britain’s Indian restaurants, while others believe it came from the Punjab region of India. But whatever its origins, it is certainly delicious!
” When our souls are happy, they talk about food” – Charles Simic’
The word tikka is a Turkic word meaning “bits” or “pieces”, and masala is a variety of spices ground into a powder or paste. My mission was to create a Tikka Masala that imparts all of the rich, smoky flavors of the original dish but is easy for the busy mom (or dad) to make after a long day at work or corralling the kiddos. This recipe accomplishes both!
Start by marinating chicken pieces in yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, salt and pepper for at least an hour…overnight (or before you leave in the morning for work) is even better. When you are ready to cook, heat oil in a large skillet. Brown the chicken in batches so there is room to turn it and brown on both sides – about three minutes per side. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining chicken until it has all been browned. Set aside; the chicken will finish cooking in the sauce.
Add onion, garlic and ginger to the skillet and cook about two minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, garam masala, tikka paste, cumin, chili powder, and coriander. Cover and simmer on medium-low for about 15 minutes. Stir in the cream and the chicken and cook for an additional 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick and bubbling. Garnish and serve over hot basmati rice with some soft, fluffy Naan bread on the side.
I hope you give this Weeknight Chicken Tikka Masala a try, and let me know in the comments how you like it! And if you love what we’re doing here, please subscribe to A Slice of Spice so you don’t miss any of the goodness!
Keep it spicy!
Michele
Weeknight Chicken Tikka Masala
A fragrant, smoky dish loaded with wonderful Indian flavors and spices.
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne optional
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast – cut into bite sized pieces
Sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
- 1 medium onion – chopped
- 2 garlic cloves – minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger – grated
- 28 oz canned diced tomatoes
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- 3 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp tikka paste can leave out
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro optional
- 6 cups cooked basmati rice
Instructions
Marinate
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Stir together yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Add cubed chicken breasts; toss to coat completely with marinade. Cover and place in the refrigerator at least one hour, or overnight.
Prepare Sauce
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Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken in batches, making sure not to crowd the pan. Cook until brown (about 3 minutes on each side). Set aside and cook remainder of the chicken. Remove from pan.
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Add onion, garlic and ginger to the hot pan and and saute’ for about one minute, until fragrant. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, garam masala, tikka paste, cumin, chili powder and coriander, and simmer on medium-low for about 15 minutes, until the sauce becomes a brown-red color.
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Stir in the cream and the chicken and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until the sauce is thick and bubbling.
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Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve over hot basmati rice.
Looks yummy ! Love how you have used all the spices and marinating certainly helps improve the flavor. If you are interested in Indian recipes with spices, I have a collection of them on my website, https://stirringmyspicysoul.com, do check it out when you find time. Would love to share recipes & learn some baking tips from you 🙂
I will head over to your site and check it out. I’ll subscribe too and maybe we can collab on something soon!
I love trying out different spices in my recipes, especially with chicken. This looks delicious!
Oh my gosh, this looks so yummy. I love Indian food but I can only make it when my husband isn’t home. He worked in India and he won’t eat Indian food now.
Send him on a guys weekend and enjoy!
This looks so good! I don’t think I’ve ever had tikka masala.
Give it a try!
I love Indian food! I don’t eat meat anymore so for me it has to be vegan. I enjoy curry and aloo matar and so many others! I’m hungry for Indian food now!
This actually tastes great with tofu if you like that! Give it a go!
My husband’s favourite and the only way for us to have this is by take out 🙂 Thanks for sharing Lisa…hopefully one day I have the time to prepare it at home.
If you let it marinate the night before it doesn’t take long at all!
um…..yum!
Thanks Jen!
Now this looks amazing!! Going to have to try this one with the boys.
I hope they enjoy it!
We love Indian food, but it always seems harder than it is to make. I actually bought a ton of spices and love the depth of flavors. Will have to try this recipe.
It’s really not hard…give it a try!
woah, this looks amazing!! and it doesn’t take too long to cook. thank you for posting!
I hope you give it a try!
This looks delicious!!! I have never had Tika Masala, but have always wondered about it. I will have to give it a try.
Let me know how you like it!
I need to start cooking with spices more – from scratch – to know how to expand my recipe variety. Will be adding this one to my list to try!
Cooking with spices helps when you are cutting out fats or salt, etc. so you still feel satisfied! I hope you give it a try!
Thanks for sharing. I love all the spices.
Thanks Sandi.
My husband loves spicy foods! I will have to cook this for him. Thanks for sharing.
I hope he enjoys it!
I’ve never had this dish, but it looks amazing. I’m eating a plant-based diet, so I think I could replace the cream and yogurt with non-dairy alternatives and still enjoy the chicken breast with the rest of it. It looks heavenly!
This looks amazing with all the right fixings! I’ll have to try it.
Let me know if you do!
This looks amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Tricia!