Ethnic food can be very intimidating. Not even just to cook, but sometimes even to eat. No one wants to be in the middle of a job interview, first date or the produce section when a case of the ‘both ends’ hits you. A majority of these horrifically embarrassing incidents are too often accredited to Indian dishes. This is why we have danced around the realm of Indian cooking so long and are just now gingerly sticking our toes in the ethnic pool with this chicken tikka masala.
Right about the time we were gloating around the kitchen and trying to out-smug each other for knocking it out of the park with an authentic Indian meal, one of our friends mentioned the fact that it’s not confirmed that chicken tikka masala is actually Indian. We were then faced with a tough decision: throw a hot broiler pan in his direction, or Google it. Unfortunately Google won, and claims it to be most likely a British dish.
Screw it. We’re still taking this one.
masala sauce chicken Combine cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt in small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with spice mixture, pressing gently so mixture adheres. Place chicken on plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes. In large bowl, whisk together yogurt, oil, garlic, and ginger then set aside. Begin making sauce by pouring oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until light golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, chile, tomato paste, and garam masala. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream and return to simmer. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm. While sauce simmers, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat broiler. Using tongs, dip chicken into yogurt mixture (chicken should be coated with thick layer of yogurt) and arrange on wire rack set in foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Broil chicken 10 to 18 minutes, until no longer pink in center, flipping chicken halfway through cooking. Add peas to cooked basmati rice while it’s still hot. Cover and set aside. Let chicken rest 5 minutes, then cut into 1-inch chunks and stir into warm sauce (do not simmer chicken in sauce). Stir in cilantro, adjust seasoning with salt, and serve over basamati rice (recipe below). basamati rice Prepare rice according to packaging instructions, and add turmeric to the water. When the rice is 1-2 minutes away from being done, add peas, stir and recover pot.
serves 4-6