garlic naan*

I made this garlic naan to go with my slow cooker chicken tikka masala and basmati rice. It's funny, because when I decided to make the slow cooker chicken tikka masala, I did it so that I could be lazy yet still have a delicious Indian meal. Then, for some reason, I decided to make some homemade naan. That immediately made my lazy day not so lazy anymore. Not that it is a difficult recipe to make, but there are a few steps that go over a good couple of hours. Anyway, at the end of the day it was extremely delicious - the whole meal. It definitely would not be the same without the naan to scoop up the saucy masala! You must make this meal in it's entirety. If you have never had Indian before, this is something that most people enjoy (or so I hear), and I think it awfully tasty myself!

Garlic Naan
from Sweet Peas Kitchen

slow cooker chicken tikka masala*

This recipe is the second chicken tikka masala recipe that I have made. The recipe here is the recipe that we use at work. It is pretty yummy, but I like this slow cooker chicken tikka masala more! I LOVE this dish at the Bombay House, and I think this recipe is even more similar to the one that they serve there. It is thick, rich, and with just a little kick. This stuff is absolutely amazing served on top of some buttery, nutty basmati rice and piece (or two) of homemade warm garlic naan bread! Absolutely to die! (Recipe for basmati and a new naan recipe coming soon!).

The recipe calls for chicken thighs, still on the bone. I thought that was strange, but beside that I don't really like dark meat, and I definitely don't like meat on the bone. But serving meat on the bone with sauce over rice seemed completely absurd to me. So I diced up a boneless, skinless chicken breast and marinaded and broiled it like that. Worked perfectly! That would be my suggestion. However, I didn't cook it the other way, so it might be equally delicious like that. Just more difficult to eat I would imagine.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala
from Meal Planning 101

naan bread*

We made this yummy naan bread to go with our chicken tikka masala last Friday. I am telling you this recipe is easy easy easy! I have only made homemade bread...well, I can count on one hand how many times I have made homemade bread - so if you are a beginner bread maker, this recipe is for you! Plus, I made this for about 180 people on my first attempt, so I have total faith that you can make this for your family!

It is pretty good and definitely reminded me of the naan bread at Bombay House, although I am sure that if it were baked in a tandoori oven that it would taste even that much more authentic. But I was pretty pleased for our first go-round! We made the dough balls a little smaller than they needed to be, so next time we can almost double them and still have enough dough. It's always hard to estimate making that much bread we will need for that many people, but next time we will have it right on! Oh, and I would highly suggest that you add the garlic into the dough. It's pretty amazing!!

Naan Bread
from allrecipes.com

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)

1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Yummy yummy in my tummy. This bread is excellent when trying to scoop up the extra sauce from the chicken tikka masala! I think I could possibly live off this meal for the rest of my life. As long as it was served with basmati rice. Seriously. It's good. Add ice cream of dessert and that would do it. My forever meal.

Speaking of ice cream for dessert, I found a recipe the other day where you can make homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker!! It has my name written all over it! And just in time because I told Landon that my next kitchen accessory would be an ice cream maker. However, my cupboard space is limited so if this recipe turns out to be as amazing as I hope it will be, I may have a new obsession in life. Imagine the mix-ins...! Nutella, hot fudge, chocolate chips, peanut butter, Oreos, fresh raspberries, caramel, Reese's Pieces, grasshopper cookies, Caramellos - ok ok I'm done. I am trying to be on a 30 day sugar fast because I seriously have a problem with sweet treats, but I told myself I can have some sugar on the weekends or I may die (why risk it?). This weekend - homemade ice cream w/out the maker. I am counting the days/hours/minutes. Stay tuned...

-alyssa*

chicken tikka masala*

Indian food entered my life a few short months ago. Landon's co-worker has raved about Bombay House for years, but my sweet husband has not been very adventurous with foods until lately. He finally decided that he dared try it, and now we are hooked. Our first trip we got the chicken tikka masala, chicken curry and some naan bread. AMAZING. We liked the chicken tikka masala more than the curry, but both were very tasty - which I was surprised with because I am not a curry fan. The second time we went we only got the chicken tikka masala and garlic naan bread. SOO good! If you have never tried Indian food, you HAVE to. Seriously. The rice alone is worth it.  

This recipe is pretty legit. It is pretty spicy, so next time I am going to cut back on the cayenne pepper in the marinade for the chicken. I could handle the heat, but I have an average tolerance for spicy foods. I know it was too spicy for some of the students and staff.  I LOVE the sauce. I could eat just the sauce on some basmati rice and be good to go. 

We actually cooked this chicken completely different than the recipe states. Because we were cooking for about 180, we actually cooked the chicken on the flat grill, then transferred it to the sauce. It worked perfectly and I really liked how it turned out. So if you don't want to go through the extra hassle, you can just cook your chicken in a pan just fine.

Chicken Tikka Masala
from Cook's Illustrated and as seen on Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Chicken

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup plain yogurt (I used nonfat but the recipe suggests whole milk yogurt)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Sauce

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced fine (about 1 1/4 cups)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 serrano chile, minced (ribs and seeds removed)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

To prep the chicken: Mix the cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt together in a small bowl.  Sprinkle the mixture evenly over both sides of the chicken.  Put the chicken on a plate, cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.  Whisk the yogurt, vegetable oil, garlic and ginger together in a wide bowl.  You'll use this to coat the chicken later before cooking - set aside for now.

To make the sauce: Meanwhile, pour the oil into a large Dutch oven set over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the onion and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic, ginger, serrano chile, tomato paste and garam malasa.  Cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes, stirring almost constantly.  Stir in the crushed tomatoes, sugar and salt then bring the sauce to a boil.  Reduce the heat so your sauce is simmering and cover the pan.  Let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring a few times.  Add the heavy cream, stir to combine and bring the sauce back to a simmer (uncovered).  Take the pan off of the heat and cover to keep warm.  (You can also make the sauce ahead - just refrigerate it once it cools slightly then rewarm when you want to serve.)

To cook the chicken:  Position an oven rack about 6 inches from your broiler and preheat the broiler.  Set a wire rack inside of a foil-lined baking sheet.  Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and dip each piece in the yogurt mixture.  You want a relatively thick layer coating the chicken.  Transfer the chicken to the wire rack.  Broil the chicken until it is cooked through (to an internal temperature of 160 F), about 10-18 minutes, flipping the chicken over halfway through the cooking time.  (The cooking time will depend in large part on the thickness of your chicken pieces.)

Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes, then cut it into 1-inch pieces and add to the warm sauce.  Add the cilantro to the sauce as well and season to taste before serving.

So amazing! We also made some garlic naan bread to go along with it. Stay tuned for the recipe!

-alyssa*