Tikka Masala

I invited Glenn over for dinner, and asked him to suggest a dish for dinner. He asked for Chicken Tikka Masala.

Ingredients:

Marinade:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• zest from 1/4 of a lemon
• 1 teaspoons powdered garlic
• 1 tablespoon ginger
  (I use 1 teaspoon ginger paste, and 1 teaspoon powdered ginger)
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon ground red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  

Main Ingredients:

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces (I used about 20 ounces of chicken)
• 1 cup onion, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (you will use half in cilantro paste)
• 10 or so sprigs cilantro, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 cup carrots, finely chopped
• 1 14 oz can of tomato sauce
• 6 oz. can of tomato paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine marinade ingredients (yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and salt.)  
2. Add chicken to bowl, stirring to coat chicken all over with marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 with rack near top.
4. In a food processor, make cliantro paste by combining half of the onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro stalks, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Blitz until fully combined about 1 minute.
5. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat, add onion, peppers, and carrots, cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. 
6. Stir in garlic; cook and stir just until fragrant, about 1 minute. 
7. Stir in all spices except paprika and garam masala into onion mixture; fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
8. Stir in tomato sauce and tomato paste into the onion and spice mixture, bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat. Add in cilantro paste.
9. Simmer sauce for 10 minutes, then mix in coconut milk, paprika, garam masala and 1 tablespoon sugar. Bring sauce back to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until sauce is thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
10. Broil chicken chunks while sauce is simmering for 5 to 10 minutes.
11. Add chicken to sauce, and simmer until no longer pink, about 20 minutes; adjust salt to taste.

Carole's Notes:

We liked this!  It went well with home made raita and Indian green beans.

The recipe is a mash up  adapted from:
https://pinchofyum.com/life-changing-30-minute-masala-sauce
and
https://cafedelites.com/chicken-tikka-masala/
and
https://tasty.co/recipe/homemade-chicken-tikka-masala