Bombay House Chicken Tikka Masala

29 Jan 2012

168 Comments

*UPDATE: A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION HAS BEEN ADDED TO MY NEW BLOG AT NORTH AND MOUTH!*

First off, before I post this AMAZING recipe, I just feel as if I need to explain myself. I haven’t made a post in an entire week because my husband just had PRK on his eyes! In case you’re wondering, PRK stands for ‘pretty radical karate.’ He got a rather nasty chop to the eye, and has been on bed rest all week!! Okay, i’m kidding. PRK is really just an intense form of LASIK which takes a longer time to recover from (I know, not as cool!) But, he’s tons better now, and i’m excited to get back to cooking and Blogging.

Before I move on, I have to explain one more thing pretty quick. I made the “mistake” of telling my visiting teachers about Dean’s eye surgery last week, (because I really needed back up baby sitters for taking him to appointments blind- I mean him not me) but instead, they organized women from my church to bring us meals every single day last week!! It was SO nice! The women in my church can really cook- and i’m really grateful for their help, and to have a little break. Although- I never really give myself a “break” because I hate sitting still for too long- so I have been working on a few exciting things on the side, which I will post about later.

But for now, I want to post one of my favourite recipes of all time, ever!! Before I came to America for university, I worked as a waitress in an Indian restaurant in my village in England, and tried pretty much everything on the entire menu. Then I married a guy who had never tried Indian food in his entire life, so I had to change that! We went to the Bombay House in Provo where we lived at the time, and he got hooked on Chicken Tikka Masala- it was love at first bite. Like a twilight romance. We went back so often that the waiters pretty much knew us by name. That’s embarrassing.

So, now you have my life history- do you finally want the recipe?! This isn’t just any chicken tikka massala recipe- this is CTM Bombay House style, which is our all time favourite. Since we live in Washington State now, and it’s rather difficult to pop by every friday night, I thought I’d make a little Bombay for my house instead.

ctm005 Ingredients:

1 1/2 Lbs chicken breast, chopped into bite size pieces
(Marinade)
1 cup plain yoghurt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp red pepper
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
(sauce)
1/4 cup cilantro
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño, minced
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
1 can (14.5oz) tomato sauce
1-2 c heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes.
Put the chicken in a dish or large ziploc bag, and add all of the marinade ingredients: yoghurt, lemon juice, cumin, red pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, salt, & ground ginger.
Stir to coat the chicken. I probably shouldn’t have taken a close up of that.
 Put in the fridge for 1-2 hours then discard the marinade.

Grill or cook the chicken in a high sided skillet about 5 minutes per side, or until no longer pink inside. (If you thread the chicken on skewers and grill it outside it not only tastes better but doesn’t stink out your house). However, there is snow outside my house, so a pan works just fine for me!!
For the sauce
Melt the butter over medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeño and cook for 1 minute.
Add coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala and salt. Stir to combine
Stir in tomato sauce and simmer for 15 minutes until thickened
Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and stir in the cream according to desired heat: 1 cup for hot-medium, 2 cups for medium-mild. Serve with white rice and garnish with fresh cilantro.

ctm002ctmawe1 ctm005

I also made garlic naan (because they don’t have Indian cooking aisles in America like they do back home). I somehow managed to find a plain naan in Walmart, and covered it with butter and crushed garlic and broiled it for about 4 minutes until it started to darken the edges. SO GOOD!!!

I invited my brother in law Dex over for dinner, and a few bites in we start gasping and reaching for the milk carton like we’re doing the gallon challenge- and then I realize…. I didn’t put jalapeños in the sauce…. I put freaking seranos in it!! Whoops. My husband was loving it, but I had to drink a lot of milk after every bite. It was good for me though. Put hair on my chest. Okay, that’s just wrong to even joke about.

I hope you’ve all had a great week, and are enjoying a peaceful sunday evening, and that you enjoy this recipe (serrano-free!)

love Sarah