Route 107

There is a portion of Route 107, in Hicksville,  that I endearingly label as “India Town”.  It is a strip of stores, primarily restaurants, and tons of Indian owned businesses.  There is really only one Indian restaurant we go to on 107 for lack of knowing any better.  I order the same thing every single time, again, because I don’t know any better.  Every time we go there I have to ask the waiter what the difference is between the myriad of bread options…  some are leavened, some are soft, some are crispy, some are crispy and soft…  sigh, I will never get it right. 

I recently saw a “Tandoori” Food Truck parked outside of Costco, with a giant line coming from it.  Out here in suburbia, food trucks are definitely not the norm, and a Tandoori one is absolutely unheard of.  It peaked my curiosity  - I slowed down as I passed it, but definitely could not convince myself to stop.  But it did spark my interest in trying to make my beloved Chicken Tikka Masala.  How hard could it be?

Guess what, Archer Farms (the Target enthusiasts are familiar with this brand!) makes a Tikka Masala sauce.  However this would definitely not be post worthy if I said, sautee chicken, pour jar of sauce, serve with rice…  The public wants to know the crazy long way I like to do things right??  And so you shall be served… (sorry for the grainy photo, I had to use my old crummy camera that day)

Chicken Tikka Masala

Adapted from a recipe from food.com

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut in 1 inch cubes (if you like dark meat chicken, boneless thighs will work great!)

Marinade

1 cup plain yogurt (I used Danon greek yogurt)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons ground cumin2 teaspoons ground red pepper

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons minced ginger 

Sauce

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons garam masala (you can get this @ Whole Foods or an Indian Market)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 ½ cup whipping cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl.  Put the chicken in the marinade and coat well.  Put the marinated chicken in a gallon size zip lock bag.  Try to get out as much air as possible.  Put it in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

To make the sauce:

Melt the butter in a heavy pot on medium heat.  Do not let the butter brown, otherwise you’ll have a big old bunch of burned butter.  Add garlic and cook for about a minute.  Do not burn the garlic or else you will have a nasty burned garlic taste in the sauce, that is not fixable!  (That is something we did learn in culinary school!).  Stir in the coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala, pepper, and salt.  Add the tomato sauce to the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes on medium low heat.  Stirring occasionally.  Stir in cream, and then cook for an additional few minues.

Saute, broil, or grill the chicken.  The original recipe said to grill the chicken on skewers, but that seemed to require a little too much effort for me that day.  So I just threw the chicken in a pan and sautéed the chicken with a little bit of diced onion.  Cook the chicken how it is most pleasing to you.  Just remember to lightly shake off any excess marinade before cooking it.

Once the chicken is cooked, add it to the sauce.  Allow the chicken to sit in the sauce for at least 5 minutes so the chicken can absorb all the aromatic flavors of the tikka masala sauce.

Garnish your Tikka Masala with the chopped cilantro.  You can serve this with rice or naan (Indian flat bread that you can buy at the store OR can make yourself – that recipe is definitely for a different day!!).

If you like your food on the spicier side (which Fuss and I do not), you can throw in some jalapeno when sautéing the garlic for the sauce.  You can also add a little red pepper to the sauce when sautéing all the spices.  

And that's it!  Enjoy.  I think we will move out of Asia next week!  :)

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Cheers!