Chicken Tikka Masala

 The spice of life

I spent most of my life refusing to eat vegetables (or anything unfamiliar, for that matter).  I first tried Indian food about 2 years ago, thanks to my good friend Jeremy.  He’s what I would call an “adventurous eater”; always excited to try new and exotic cuisines.  When he heard that I was staunchly anti-vegetable, the first place he took me to was an Indian restaurant.  I’ve come a long way since warily biting into my first veggie-filled samosa.  Indian food is now one of my favorite ethnic cuisines to cook in the kitchen, often providing great one-dish meals full of meat and veggies.  I found it at - where else? - Marks Sisson's awesometastic blog.  This recipe is a bit time-consuming, but the end result is well worth the effort.  It yields about 8-10 servings.  This dish goes great with Cauliflower Sticky Rice.

Special Equipment needed:

13x9 baking dish

aluminum foil

extremely large pan with high sides (big enough to fit all sauce and chicken ingredients)*

microplane grater

*my largest pan actually couldn't fit the sauce AND the chicken, so I used a stock pot when it came time to combine the two

Ingredients for Chicken:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp garlic, minced

4 tbsp fresh ginger, grated (best achieved with a microplane grater)

small pinch of cayenne pepper

generous pinch of salt

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp turmeric (tends to stain cookware)

1 tbsp black pepper

1 can coconut milk

6-8 boneless, skinless free-range chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

Instruction for Chicken:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken and coconut milk.  Stir, add coconut milk, then stir again. 
3. Evenly distribute the chicken pieces in a 13x9 baking dish, then cover with coconut milk mixture.  Stir with a spoon to make sure all chicken pieces get coated in coconut milk.  
4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

5. While your chicken is baking, make the sauce.

Ingredients for Tomato Sauce:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 yellow onions, thinly sliced

6 oz. tomato paste (or less if you're not big on tomatoes)

1 can coconut milk

28oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp garlic, minced

1/2 cup water

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp garam masala*

1/2 tsp turmeric

*available at any Indian market or ethnic food aisle in your local supermarket

Instructions for Tomato Sauce:
1. Heat olive and coconut oil in a large pan with high sides over medium heat.  Add the onions and saute until golden brown (at least 10 minutes).
2. Add remaining ingredients, stir, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.
3. When the chicken is done baking, add it to the sauce and simmer for another 20 minutes.  If your pan cannot fit both the sauce and chicken, just dump them both into a small stockpot over medium-low heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring constantly.

Yum

This makes A LOT so if you're not cooking for a big group, make sure to freeze some of it for later.  I usually portion out single servings into small ziploc freezer bags.  Enjoy!