From Our Kitchen: Curry Stand Chicken Tikka

Harris and I are part food-snob, part culinary adventurers. We pride ourselves on trying new restaurants, dishes, recipes, and so on. However, Indian food was a hurdle that we had not yet mastered. Having tried Indian food previously, I don't think either of us ever knew the right things to order, and had just never been impressed with the experience. This all changed during our honeymoon. Now, it surprises pretty much everyone when we tell them that our favorite restaurant at our resort in Mexico was the Indian restaurant - heck, we were even surprised ourselves. We went to said Indian restaurant several times during our two-week stay, and felt pretty confident that we would continue our Indian food exploits upon returning to the states. We were not, however, prepared for how easy recreating some of our favorite dishes would be! I am pleased to report that we have eaten Indian food several times since returning to the states, and not once has it been at a restaurant!

So far our favorite recipe is Curry Stand Chicken Tikka (which is just fun to say if nothing else!). It is so easy, smells amazing cooking, and tastes even better!

What You'll Need:

• 2 tbsp. ghee (clarified butter - I don't take the time to clarify the butter, so I just use regular butter, but, hey, if you want to, more power to you!)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 (14oz) can tomato sauce
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tbsp. white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil (I used olive)
• 1/2 tsp. curry powder

What You'll Do:

1. Heat butter in large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir onion about 5 min. Stir in garlic, and continue cooking about 1 minute.
2. Stir in cumin, salt, ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and turmeric. Fry about 2 minutes
3. Stir in tomato sauce, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. 
4. Mix in cream, paprika, and sugar. Bring sauce back to a simmer, and cook, stirring often, until sauce is thickened, about 10 - 15 minutes.
5. Heat oil in a separate skillet over medium heat. Stir chicken into the oil, sprinkle with curry powder, and sear chicken until lightly browned, but still pink inside, about 3 minutes. Stir often.
6. Transfer chicken and any pan juices into the sauce. Simmer chicken in sauce, until no longer pink, about 30 minutes. Salt and sugar to taste.
7. Serve over rice with garlic naan (easy recipe, over here).