Quick Chicken Tikka Masala

Hey Ladies! It has been quite some time since my last post. But the recipe I made last night deserves recognition and to be shared with you lovely gals. It is "Quick Chicken Tikka Masala" courtesies of my new favorite recipe/food site eatingwell.com I have used the site in the past and to be honest, it is sometimes a hit or miss. Definitely look at the reviews before attempting a dish.

What I most love about the site is that it is health conscious and allows you to see the nutritional facts of the food you are cooking, allowing for a more transparent meal and healthier choices to be made on your part (if you should so choose =). With spring around the corner and summer approaching, I so choose the healthier option (at least for now ;).

Anywho, this recipe was super quick, easy, healthy and so delicious.

TIPS:

*If you cannot find chicken tenders, you can buy chicken stir fry or even just a pound of chicken breast, cut into smaller portions.

**I love flavor and following the recipe exactly will deliver a nice, yet mild flavor. I added more garam masala/tumeric and a lil salt/curry to taste.

Quick Chicken Tikka Masala (courtesy of www.eatingwell.com)

• 4 teaspoons garam masala (see Note)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 pound chicken tenders
• 4 teaspoons canola oil, divided
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, undrained (I recommend buying crushed or already diced tomatoes)
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

1. Stir together garam masala, salt and turmeric in a small dish. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of the spice mixture and dredge in the flour. (Reserve the remaining spice mix and 1 tablespoon of the remaining flour.)
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
3. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic, onion and ginger and cook, stirring often, until starting to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the reserved spice mix and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Sprinkle with the reserved 1 tablespoon flour and stir until coated. Add tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a simmer, stirring and breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring often, until thickened and the onion is tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Stir in cream. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until the chicken is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

**I served the dish over a bed of brown rice**

Chana Masala

Sorry for my delay in posting something new. I've been wanting to contribute but haven't had a chance to really cook anything really substantial since I've moved into SF in March! Major fail on my end.

Well, I was really determined to post something so I decided to make chana masala, partly to use a pile of dried chick peas that I've had for awhile and also to use some spices I had bought in Berkeley at Vik's Chaathouse awhile back. I found a recipe off smittenkitchen.com that looked really doable and quite yummy.

Substitutions: I substituted a half lemon for the amchoor powder as she had suggested in the recipe. I also used a can of diced tomatoes that I cut up further. Instead of ground coriander, I had whole coriander that I tried to ground up, but that wasn't too successful. Next time, I'd definitely buy ground coriander. Also, I used 4 teaspoons of ground cumin instead of 2 tsp ground cumin and 2 tsp toasted cumin seeds.

The recipe is here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/02/chana-masala/. (picture is from my iPhone, so sorry for the quality)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 medium onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon amchoor powder (see note)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced) (see note; I used a whole lemon to swap for the amchoor powder)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.