Tikka Masala

My family has experimented with dozens of chicken tikka masala recipes over several years, and we finally settled on a favorite. This recipe is shamelessly cribbed from Allrecipes.

Time: 80 minutes

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons ghee (I just use butter)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Chicken:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Directions:

1. Heat ghee in a large skillet over medium heat and cook and stir onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook and stir just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and turmeric into the onion mixture; fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
2. Stir tomato sauce into the onion and spice mixture, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Simmer sauce for 10 minutes, then mix in cream, paprika, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Bring sauce back to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until sauce is thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a separate skillet over medium heat. Stir chicken into the hot oil, sprinkle with curry powder, and sear chicken until lightly browned but still pink inside, about 3 minutes; stir often. Transfer chicken and any pan juices into the sauce. Simmer chicken in sauce until no longer pink, about 30 minutes; adjust salt and sugar to taste.

Notes:

• Be generous with the spices to your taste. :)
• I usually cook the chicken a bit longer than recommended before transferring to the sauce.
• The 30 minute simmer at the end is vital for sauce consistency. Also, I find that on my range the heat needs to be higher than “simmer”.
• Serve over an aromatic rice like basmati. (By the way, why on earth does plain white rice even exist when literally anything else is so much better?)
• This recipe also works with firm tofu cut to quarter-inch cubes subbed for the chicken.