Chicken Tikka Masala and Garlic Naan

Since we had self-quarantined ourselves in our apartment a few weeks ago, we stopped ordering restaurant deliveries or pick-ups. For the first couple of weeks, it was super fun to try all the recipes I’ve been putting for later, or cook my childhood favorite dishes I haven’t tasted for years. But on a third week, I was done with Eastern European recipes. I started craving Indian food so much, I was ready to break my quarantine and go to any Indian restaurant even just to stare at their closed doors. That was, of course, silly, and since I’m a professional cook, I went to deal with my problems in the kitchen. That’s how these two recipes were born – out of boredom and huge hankering for Indian food.

Making homemade Garlic Naan and Chicken Tikka Masala is not hard at all, but it requires quite a bit of time and certain spices in the pantry. I conveniently had these Chicken Masala blend, and I don’t even know where and when I got it, lol. But if you have fresh garlic, ginger, Garam masala, and some other basic dried spices, you’ll be fine. As for the Naan, give yourself about 2 hours to make it. Don’t be scared. You’ll have only 30 minutes of active time, and the rest is just for the dough to rise and rest. Here is the recipe for the Garlic Naan. So get ready, here we go!

Chicken Tikka Masala and Garlic Naan

Recipe by Srima Khara

Servings

4

servings

Prep timeminutes

Cooking timeminutes

Calorieskcal

Ingredients

• For the Marinade:
  1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken tights cut into 2 inch pieces

• 1/4 cups whole milk plain yogurt, not Greek-style

• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

• 1 tablespoon Chicken Masala blend, or 1 teaspoon of ground garam masala mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

• For the sauce:
  2 tablespoons Ghee, can be substituted with 1 tablespoon of butter plus one tablespoon of vegetable oil

• 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)

• 2 teaspoons garlic, finely grated

• 1 teaspoon ginger finely grated

• 1 tablespoon of Chicken Masala spice, or 1 teaspoon of ground garam masala mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

• 2 green cardamom seeds, crushed

• 1 cup crushed canned tomatoes

• 2/3 cups heavy cream

• 1/2 teaspoon cane sugar, optional

• a small bunch of cilantro, for serving

Directions