my first time eating indian food was sometime my freshmen year at Yale. my favorite indian restaurant in New Haven was Zaroka Bar and Restaurant. sooo good! i took my folks there during my graduation weekend and they LOVED it!
one of the first indian dishes i ever tried was chicken tikka masala. it’s a classic “first indian dish” to try. sooo i thought that the first indian dish i should try to cook should pay homage to that dish that made me fall in love with indian cuisine 🙂 kevin likes indian food too (he even spent a summer during college in chennai) so deciding to cook indian was a no brainer.
(photo and recipe courtesy of skinny taste)
we made a few modifications to the recipe and doubled it. we also used both chicken breasts and thighs.
Ingredients:
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 2 small onion, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups crushed tomatoes
- 8 oz fat free Greek yogurt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 2 tbsp garam masala
- 2 tsp turmeric (optional)
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- salt to taste
- 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 lb chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 bunch of fresh cilantro (or to taste)
Directions:
1) Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until golden. Add the crushed ginger, stir for a few minutes then add the garlic and cook another minute.
2) Add cumin, garam masala, turmeric, chili powder, and salt; mix well until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, yogurt and milk. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
3) Add chicken and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes or until cooked through.
4) Add a generous amount of chopped cilantro and serve with Basmati Rice or Naan.
5) Enjoy!
*this recipe was good, but did not taste quite as “authentically indian.” i suspect that the culprit was the crushed tomatoes WITH BASIL (hahaha) that i accidentally bought. i used it anyways though because i was too lazy to run back to the grocery store…i think it made the chicken overly sweet…but kevin still loved it. i’m feeling inspired to try other indian dishes now!
alice in cook-ING land 