Chicken Tikka Masala

For the first recipe on the page, I'm going for my absolute favorite. It took me a while to get this recipe perfect, but after a lot of tweaking, I'm pretty confident: this is good food!

There are two "parts" to the recipe really; marinading and preparing the chicken, and the Masala sauce we'll be drowning it in.

The Marinade

3-4 Large Chicken Breasts

1.25 Cups of Plain Yogurt
1.25 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1.25 Tbsp Grated Ginger
2.5 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 tsp Black Pepper
1.25 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Coriander
1 tsp Salt
0.5 tsp Turmeric

Combine all ingredients (except chicken) into a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Add medium cut chunks of chicken for grilling (small enough to grill through, but big enough to not get tough) and marinade (the longer, the better)!

After the chicken is marinaded (minimum 1-2 hours), remove and grill on medium heat until cooked through.

The Sauce

To start the sauce, you'll need the following:

1.5 Tbsp Butter
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced or chopped
2/3 of a Jalapeno, seeds removed, chopped fine

Melt butter in a pan, and add the garlic and jalapeno. Cook until the veggie bits are browned! Then you'll need:

16oz Tomato Sauce
2 Cups Half and Half
5 tsp Cumin
4 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Coriander
1 tsp Cardemom
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Turmeric

Add all ingredients to the sauce pan and simmer, letting the sauce thicken over the next 20 minutes. Stir frequently.

After 20 minutes, add:

The Chicken! (grilled and everything)
1/2 Cup Chopped Cilantro

Cook for another 5-10 minutes to properly mix the flavors, and enjoy with a warm slice of Na'an bread or some Basmati rice!

Serves... I would guess 4-6. It's hard to say with me; I eat so much when I make indian (yum!), but there are plenty of leftovers still!