Chicken Tikka Masala

I've been curious about Indian Food for a while now. Everytime I drove past the Indian Oven on main st in Logan.. I would want to try it. I never did. I have never had Indian food in my life and going to a restaurant that serves Indian food seemed a little bit overwhelming to me. I would have no clue what to order. So, I just avoided the situation all together. Just driving by and continuing on. I was searching a few of my go-to food blogs and found that they both had a recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala. Both recipes where very similar, but had their differences. There were somethings I liked about one recipe that I didn't like about the other. One sounded spicier so I opted for the less spicey.. but I cooked it the way it suggested in the other recipe. The Recipe itself came from Favorite family recipes. It was definitely different, but good. My hubby and little guy ate it all up!


Chicken Tikka Masala
adapted from Favorite Family Recipes
Marinade
1 cup plain yogurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp salt
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

Sauce
1 Tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 tsp cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, pepper, ginger, and 1 tsp salt. Stir in chicken, cover, refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Preheat a medium skillet with 1 TBSP oil. Saute chicken until no longer pink, discard marinade. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a large skillet. Saute garlic for 1 minute. Season with 2 tsp cumin, paprika and 1 tsp salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with fresh cilantro.
4. Serve over rice.