My Husband loves Indian food, in particular, Chicken Tikka Masala and Sag Paneer. For years, seven to be exact, he has asked me to make them for him. My reply is usually no. There are several reasons for this but the biggest being that Chicken Tikka Masala is not a real Indian dish.
I grew up Gujarati and my parents were vegetarian (this is a post of its own that I will get to, promise) so this meant things like cauliflower or eggplant or lentils for dinner rather than Chicken Tikka Masala. We also never cooked with heavy cream. Yogurt was sometimes added to a dish but never heavy cream.
I have seen many versions of Chicken Tikka and the first I made used ground almonds and cashews to provide richness to the sauce. I spent hours making this for him the first time and his response after his first bite was "did you forget to add cream?"
So, I decided I would make my husband his version of an Indian dinner. Paneer and cream included. This post has the Chicken Tikka Masala but there was spinach with paneer and naan as well.
It's not that I don't love ordering this dish when I'm getting take out. I just feel like this is fundamentally not an Indian dish. There are a lot of elements that are authentic but some parts are not and I think that is why I have never been inclined to make it at home.
I also didn't want to know how bad this dish actually was for me. I was happy in my ignorance, just eating it as takeout, and never knowing how much ghee or cream were really used to make this dish so tasty.
This was a fun meal to make. My husband made Manhattans, played DJ and took pictures. We spent the entire evening making this dinner but loved being able to sit down at our dinner table and enjoy it together.
As we sat down to eat this meal, my husband had the biggest smile on his face and as he took that first bite, he looked at me and said "it only took 7 years of devotion, but it was totally worth it."
Chicken Tikka Masala
(Adapted from Bon Appetite)6 garlic cloves, grated
4 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
4 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 cups whole-milk yogurt
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise
3 tablespoons ghee
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup tomato paste
6 cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro plus sprigs for garnish
Preparation
I use a microplane to grate the garlic and ginger. Combine garlic, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, coriander, and cumin in a small bowl.
Whisk yogurt, salt, and half of spice mixture in a medium bowl. Pour into a plastic bag and add chicken. Make sure the mixture is spread all through out the chicken and it is all evenly coated. Refridgerate over night.
Cover and chill remaining spice mixture.
Heat ghee in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion, tomato paste, cardamom, and chiles and cook, stirring often, until tomato paste has darkened and onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add remaining half of spice mixture and cook, stirring often, until bottom of pot begins to brown, about 4 minutes.
Add tomatoes with juices, crushing them with your hands as you add them. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, until sauce thickens, 8-10 minutes.
Add cream and chopped cilantro. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and set a wire rack inside sheet. Arrange chicken on rack in a single layer. Broil until chicken starts to blacken in spots (it will not be cooked through), about 10 minutes.
Cut chicken into bite-size pieces, add to sauce, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, 8-10 minutes.
Serve with warm Naan or rice or both!
