Chicken Tikka Masala

Do you like Indian food?  I L.O.V.E. Indian food, and I've had a very hard time finding good recipes.  I found this recipe for chicken tikka masala on pinterest, and it is as good as the tikka masala we get at our favorite Indian restaurant.  You can find the original recipe here.  We had to improvise since we didn't have all the ingredients, so I'm going to give you the instructions on how we will make it next time, rather than what we did this time:

Ingredients for chicken kabobs:

• 1 1/2 lbs. chicken, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (I don't like black pepper, but if you do, use it instead)
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt (I like Greek yogurt for extra flavor)

Ingredients for sauce:

•  several tablespoons oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (you can use ground cumin if you don't have cumin seeds)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper (again, use black if you prefer)
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons butter (half a stick)
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 6 tablespoons water

To make the kabobs:

Mix the oil, lime juice, spices, and yogurt in a medium bowl.  Add the chicken and mix well to ensure even coating.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to 1 day.  When done marinating, remove the chicken from the refrigerator.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and spread the chicken over a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Cook for 8 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle. 

To make the masala:

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and garlic.  Saute until the onions are soft and transparent.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the tomato.  Simmer for a few minutes until the tomato softens, stirring occasionally.  Mash the tomatoes and onion mixture until it becomes a mushy paste.  Stir in the cumin seeds, coriander, paprika, cayenne, cinnamon, white pepper, and sugar.  Let the masala simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Pour the sauce into a blender and puree until smooth (you may need to do it in batches depending on the size and strength of your blender).  Return the masala to the saucepan and stir in the butter, lime juice, cream, and water.  Set on high heat.  Let it come to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low.  Add the chicken and let simmer 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so.  Serve over rice and with naan.  Makes about 6 servings.

I must reinterate: this is the best Indian food recipe I've found!  It is extremely tasty!  If you're vegetarian, I think you could easily make this recipe with chickpeas instead of chicken.  The original recipe called for twice the amount of cayenne, but we thought it was too spicy, so I would recommend cutting it in half.  My husband likes spicy food, but he thought that the cayenne overpowered all the other flavors, and I must admit, it was a little overwhelming.  If you don't like spicy food, you might want to half it again.  Also, the original recipe called for 1 lb. of chicken, but we didn't think that the sauce to chicken ratio was ideal, so I'd recommend using more chicken.  However, the amount of marinade that I included here is for the original 1 lb., so you might also want to make some more marinade if you don't think that will be enough.  Other than those two minor changes, I wouldn't change a thing!  This is the best recipe we've made since the stuffed portobello mushrooms, and we will definitely be making this again soon!