When I moved to the UK, I was an Indian food virgin. As soon as I tried it, I was hooked. Practically every curry night you could find us at The James Watt having lovely naan, poppadums, basmati rice, pakora, samosas and my all time favorite: Chicken Tikka Masala~a mildly spiced chicken bathed in a sauce of tomatoes and coconut milk. (This picture is my beloved curry from the UK restaurant...sigh!)
When we moved back to the States I missed it as much as I missed mexican food and coconut donuts when I lived over there. I searched for a recipe and found one that was so incendiary that I couldn't even eat it! (Chicken Tikka Masala is generally not hot at all.) My teflon mouthed brother ate what I made while I watched sadly...wishing I could eat it without dying. Then I toned down the spices and it was almost like what I missed. So I messed around with it a little more and I think I found Tikka Masala heaven!
The only bad thing about making your own Indian food is that you need a whole lot of spices. I mean, a lot. Just for one dish. Of course, this could be a good excuse for you to beef up your spice rack. If you live near a World Market they have spices there (and other Indian accoutrements) for super cheap! Don't forget to pick up some Garam Masala.
If you look at the recipe and decide it's too much for you, get take-out! It's totally worth it and you can get all the good stuff I can't even begin to make in my kitchen, like Palak Paneer, Sag Aloo, Tandoori Chicken, Vegetable Curry...oh yum! There's a certain talent that comes with Indian cooking. For the record, they have awesome Chicken Tikka at Ganesh Indian Cuisine in Midvale and The Himilayan Kitchen in downtown SLC does some amazing curry as well.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Marinade
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 half inch piece of gingerroot, minced
1 and 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes
-Mix together yogurt through gingeroot, put in a zipper bag or glass dish, mix in the chicken cubes and marinate for 1 hour or longer.
-Once the chicken is marinated, start making the masala sauce.
Sauce
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup light coconut milk
fresh chopped cilantro
-For sauce, melt butter in a large, deep skillet over medium heat, add garlic; cook 1 minute.
-Stir in coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala and salt.
-Stir in tomato sauce, simmer 15 minutes, stir in cream; simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
-Meanwhile, heat grill to medium-high (or heat broiler).
-Remove chicken from refrigerator and thread chicken onto skewers; discard marinade. (You can also just put the marinated chicken pieces on a foil-lined pan that has been lightly oiled and put them under the broiler.)
-Grill or broil chicken, turning occasionally, until cooked through, about 8 minutes.
-Remove chicken from skewers; add to sauce; Simmer 5 minutes; sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
-Serve with basmati rice, naan or pita bread.
