Chicken Tikka Masala

I love Indian food! I didn't know this until I was an adult and willing to step outside of my comfort zone to try some new things. I used to be a super picky eater. I would spend the first 5 minutes of dinner methodically picking out the onions my mom cooked into whatever meal she had prepared. I flat out refused to eat beans of any kind except for green beans. All that changed when I spent 18 months as a missionary for the Mormon church. As a missionary when someone invites you in and offers you food, you accept and eat even if you don't really want it or there is cat hair in it or there is a whole fish with its eyes still in staring up at you from the plate (I swear I'm not even exaggerating.) But the upside is that it forced me to try a lot of new things from a lot of different cultures, and I absolutely fell in love with so many of them.

Indian food became a favorite. It was a sad day when I was really craving Indian food, but had no idea how to make anything. Luckily some very good friends shared their recipe for this delicious chicken tikka masala. It is so delicious!! I'm sharing the original version of this recipe, altered slightly, as found on allrecipes.com. We cut the hot spices in half to make it edible for Sweet Girl. I like it just a little bit spicier, but for now while we are trying to feed little ones too, we have to keep it pretty mild.

Ingredients:
Marinade:
1 C Plain Yogurt
1 T Lemon Juice
2 t Ground Cumin
1 t Ground Cinnamon
2 t Cayenne Pepper
2 t Black Pepper
1 T Minced Fresh Ginger
1 t Salt
3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
Sauce:
1 T Butter
1 Clove Garlic
2 t Ground Cumin
2 t Paprika
1 t Salt
1 (8 oz) Can Tomato Sauce
1 C Heavy Cream


Directions:
1. Mix together the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Preheat the grill and skewer the chicken. Grill until cooked through.

3. While th chicken is grilling, cook the sauce. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the garlic for 1 minute. Add in seasonings, tomato sauce and cream. Bring to a simmer, and simmer on low for about 20 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

4. Remove the chicken from the skewers and add into the sauce. Serve chicken over rice.

I always like to save a little of the plain yogurt to mix into the chicken once it's on my plate. It helps cool the spices just a little bit, and tastes delicious.

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