Chicken Tikka Masala

We finally did it…our first dinner and a movie challenge of summer! We’ve started slowly making our way through our movie collection over the last few weeks after putting the little one to bed, but not every random movie we own has a fun foodie theme to go with it. This one, however, was perfect. Drumroll please…

…and our movie was the Bollywood classic

 

I had a close friend in high school who originally introduced me to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. We were talking about Bollywood one day and she insisted that I see this movie…so naturally I went out and bought it (oh those days before streaming). And now we’ve had the chance to watch 3 hours of subtitles and awesome Bollywood dance moves thanks to our summer challenge. Kyle was thrilled…or something like that.

Confession: I’ve never even really tasted authentic Indian food before. I know what curry tastes like but I’ve actually never been to an Indian restaurant. We went to a local Indian market (yes we found one in Alabama) for the spices and got a few tips from the cashier, so I’m hoping that it is pretty authentic.

I really loved the flavors of this dish…until about 4 seconds later when my mouth felt the flames of a thousand fires. I only made it a few bites in before the tears were streaming down my face and I was chugging milk like a crazy person. Admittedly, I am a wimp when it comes to spicy food, but I even saw a few tears welling up in Kyle’s eyes.

If you’re a fan of spicy food, I’m sure that you’ll love this dish. Find a fun Indian flik to watch or just turn on the Bollywood Pandora station while you cook and enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, chopped into bite size pieces

Marinade Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp red pepper
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger

Sauce Ingredients

• 1 Tbs unsalted butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeño, minced
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 can (14.5oz) tomato sauce
• 1-2 c heavy whipping cream
• cilantro (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes.
2. Put the chicken in a bowl, and add all of the marinade ingredients: yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, red pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, salt, & ground ginger.
3. Stir to coat the chicken.
4. Put in the fridge for 1-2 hours then discard the excess marinade.
5. Cook the chicken in a skillet or dutch oven until no longer pink inside.
6. For the sauce, melt the butter over medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeño and cook for 1 minute.
7. Add coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala and salt. Stir to combine.
8. Stir in tomato sauce and simmer for 15 minutes until thickened.
9. Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and stir in the cream according to desired heat.
10. Serve with white rice and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Warning: This is one hot and spicy beast of a dish. Skip the jalapeno and red pepper if you want to turn down the heat. Also, I would recommend adding 2 cups of heavy cream (rather than the single cup we tried).

Recipe from Mattawa Mum