The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen
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Chicken Tikka Masala

5.00 Mitt(s) 21 Rating(s)21 votes, average: 5.00 out of 521 votes, average: 5.00 out of 521 votes, average: 5.00 out of 521 votes, average: 5.00 out of 521 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5

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Description

A delicious, India-inspired dish that is firmly placed in my family’s Top 5 favorite dinner chioces. If you’re lucky, you canned some crushed tomatoes from last summer’s garden to use! Don’t let the long list of ingredients discourage you. Very similar to ‘Butter Chicken’. Note: this recipe has been adapted from Americas Test Kitchen.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts Or Tenders
  • ½ teaspoons Cumin
  • ½ teaspoons Ground Coriander
  • ⅛ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper--use More If You Like
  • 1 teaspoon Table Salt--use Less If You Brine Your Chicken
  • 1 cup Plain, Whole Milk Yogurt
  • 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
  • 2 teaspoons Garlic, Minced Or Pressed
  • 1 Tablespoon Grated Fresh Ginger
  • 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
  • 1-¼ cup Onion, Chopped
  • 2 teaspoons Garlic, Minced Or Pressed
  • 2 teaspoons Grated Fresh Ginger
  • ½ whole Jalapeno--ribs And Seeds Removed
  • 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
  • 1 Tablespoon Garam Masala--make Your Own Or McCormicks Has A Good, Widely Available Version
  • 28 ounces, weight Crushed Tomatoes
  • 2 teaspoons Sugar
  • ½ teaspoons Table Salt
  • ¾ cups Heavy Cream
  • ⅓ cups Cilantro (fresh, Chopped)
  • 1-½ cup Basmati Rice, Cooked According To Package Directions

Preparation

Combine the cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt in a small prep bowl. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with the spice mixture. Cover and refrigerate 30-60 minutes.

In a medium bowl mix: yogurt, oil, garlic, and ginger. Set aside.

In a large cast iron pan or Dutch oven pan, heat oil for sauce. When shimmering, add the chopped onion. Cook, stirring until onions soften and start to brown. Add garlic, ginger, jalapeno, tomato paste, and garam masala. Cook, stirring about 3 minutes. Don’t let the garlic burn! Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, loosely covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cream, stir, and return to simmer. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

While sauce simmers, put oven rack in middle-top position, (6 inches from heating element), and heat the broiler. Place your chicken either on a cooking rack fitted in a baking sheet, or on a foil-lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. With a silicon pastry brush, or spoon, brush both sides of the chicken with a good coating of the yogurt mixture. Discard leftover yogurt mixture. Broil chicken until and instant-read thermometer reads 160ºF. This takes 10-18 minutes if you are using breasts, less time if you are using tenders. Flip halfway through.

Let chicken rest 5 minutes, then cut into bite-sized pieces and stir into the warm masala sauce. Stir in cilantro and adjust seasonings. Serve over basmati rice.

8 Comments

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Alicia on 3.26.2016

I made this tonight and my family loved it.

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jameymacleod on 1.19.2011

I made this tonight and it was excellent. My whole family loved it!! Thanks!

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susan27 on 1.19.2011

Definitely a five star recipe! I made it this week and we loved it! Reminded me of a favorite dish from my favorite Indian restaurant. I’ll be making this again for sure!

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hookem1127 on 1.18.2011

I love Tikka Masala, and I’ve always been a little too intimidated my some recipe ingredient lists to have a go at making it myself. I have in my possession almost everything on your list…thanks for the recipe!

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virginiacooks on 1.18.2011

Hmm. This seems to be the exact same recipe that is in Cooks Illustrated (August 2007), but I see no credit to it. Even when altering a recipe, a proper credit to the original source is good policy.

21 Reviews

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LavandulaLady on 6.24.2019

We thoroughly enjoyed dinner tonight!
Changes: coconut milk (cuz I didn’t have enough cream) and 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes (again, I didn’t have the right size) and hubby grilled the chicken (instead of broiling) just cuz he wanted to help and he’s the grillmaster. It all turned out great, so I cannot imagine it would have tasted any different (or better.)

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Alicia on 3.26.2016

Took some time to get everything ready but the finish product was amazing.

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Erica Andros on 8.4.2015

Well worth the effort! Next time I will use the entire jalapeño.

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nmgirl on 8.22.2013

This is a very good recipe. I used more jalapeno to get a spicier flavor.

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aimee on 12.20.2012

Very tasty. I used ground ginger and it tasted great. This isn’t a hard recipe, but it is very detailed and its much easier if you have everything laid out and prepped before you begin.

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