When I moved away from the San Francisco Bay Area a few years ago, I instantly was hit with some real or should I say “rural” world realities. Some good, such as you don’t have to live with traffic and some bad, such as food from other cultures besides good ol’ American is hard to find in a lot of small town USA. Therefore, every time I went home to visit my parents and friends in Northern California, I basically begged to go out for Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Indian. Yet somehow, I never thought to try making Indian food at home!

Step 3 ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2014

Now that I’ve been cooking, and blogging about my cooking adventures, for a few years, I am taking more chances to broaden my culinary skills and boundaries. With that in mind, tonight I made my very first Chicken Tikka Masala. Tikka, meaning small chunks of meat or poultry, and Masala being a sauce made of mixed spices. This is supposedly a more modern Indian recipe, but captures the spices and flavors of Indian cooking quite nicely.

©EverydayCookingAdventures 2014

I had everything I needed for this recipe except that I used ground ginger instead of fresh. Otherwise, I followed the ingredients and directions exactly so as not to mess up my first real Indian dish! I marinated the chicken for 2 hours exactly and that seemed perfectly long enough as the chicken came out nicely coated in the creamy, garlicky sauce. The whole thing was quite easy to follow just as the recipe’s name encouraged me it would be.

+Better Homes and Gardens Easy Chicken Tikka Masala ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2014

I loved the orange-pink sauce after it came out of the oven. I loved it, being an Indian food fan, and it really did taste quite like what I’d get at an authentic restaurant in San Francisco. I encourage everyone to try this recipe if they have never delved into more ethnic cooking before as it is an easy start. I served it alongside Martha Stewart’s Spinach with Indian Spices and Cocozia Coconut Rice. Here’s my Chicken Tikka Masala:

+Better Homes and Gardens Easy Chicken Tikka Masala ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2014

Easy Chicken Tikka Masala

Recipe from: Better Homes and Gardens Magazine

Makes: 2 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Marinate Time: 2 to 4 hours
Bake Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
• 1/2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger or 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, or 1/3 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/3 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/3 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 4 oz. salt-free or low-salt tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp. half-and-half or light cream
• 1/2 Tbsp. red curry paste
• 1/4 tsp. garam masala
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro (optional)
• 1 cup hot cooked basmati rice

Directions:
1. Cut chicken breast halves into 3-inch pieces; pierce each piece in several places with a sharp knife. Cut any thicker chicken pieces in half horizontally. Place chicken in a resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish.

2. For marinade, in a small bowl combine yogurt, ginger, garlic, coriander, paprika, cardamom, and cumin. Pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag; turn to coat chicken. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours, turning bag occasionally.

3. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Drain chicken, discarding marinade. Coat a grill pan with cooking spray; heat pan over medium heat. Add chicken pieces; cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown, turning once.

4. Transfer chicken to a 2-quart shallow baking dish or au gratin dish. In a medium bowl combine tomato sauce, half-and-half, curry paste, garam masala, and salt. Pour over chicken, stirring to coat.
Bake, uncovered, about 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (170ºF), stirring once. If desired, sprinkle chicken with cilantro. Serve chicken and sauce over rice.