Chicken Tikka Marsala

Hello to all my Positive Living friends! It has been a little while since my last post. With flu, colds and the weeks it took to finish the launch of my 2 recent cookbooks- it has been a very busy 2019.

During the winter I took the time review the world of food blogs. I wanted to see if I could identify what is working and not working for other bloggers. It would seem that the public appetite for food blogs has begun to wane a little bit in the last year. Several food blogs have gone dormant.

I believe some of this shift may be due to too much noise everywhere between You Tube cooking channels and the hundreds of food blogs all around. As well, far too many food blogs are literally drowning in dozens and dozens of google ads.

I find this kind of thing very tedious. I am not sure (anyone's) recipe for any (dish) is worth the time it takes to scroll down through the constant pop up ads and distractions.

There are a handful of superb food blogs I hope survive. Every cook no matter ones experience or confidence level - needs a helping hand on new ideas especially when entertaining.

My goal when starting Positive Living was to be a reliable home to come to for simple easy recipe ideas on dishes that actually work!

During my first 6 months with Positive Living I posted a lot of different recipes. When I took the time to review the responses and comments that I got I was somewhat surprised to find that "Butter Chicken" was the number one recipe visitors came back to over and over. I was so excited to see interest in curry as I absolutely love to make curry dishes here at home.

Butter chicken is a mild tomato based curry dish. It is delicious however an even more popular Indian Dish is called "Chicken Tikka Marsala". Both are very similar dishes however Tikka Marsala takes on a very deep level of flavor and requires a little more time to make.

Trust me - it is so worth it!

Tikka Marsala is a recipe you can decide to do last minute by marinating the chicken for 10-14 minutes. However if entertaining, I highly recommend you pull the marinade together the night before. You will absolutely love the results!!

Ingredients:

25 oz. chicken thighs boneless skinless - cut into 2 inch chunks

Yogurt marinade

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 3/4 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp minced ginger ( I recommend buying a tube of refrigerated minced ginger in the produce section of your store).

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground red chili powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoon garam masala (be sure to have a fresh container of this one spice). If its been sitting in the back of your pantry for 5 years - please get a new one).

Tikka Marsala Sauce

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 Tbsp butter

1 large yellow onion - diced

1 Tbsp grated ginger

1 1/2 Tbsp mined garlic

1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

14 oz tomato puree (Centro brand is great)

1 teaspoon ground red chili powder

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2-3 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Quick Tip - Marinade your chicken chunks in the yogurt sauce for at least 6 hours or overnight if possible.

Directions:

Combine in a large bowl your chicken thigh chunks with the yogurt then add in all the spices listed for the marinade. Mix very well then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

When ready to assemble - In a large skillet or cast iron pan - heat the olive oil on medium high heat until quite hot. Add in the chicken chunks. Be careful to not overcrowd. You may need to do 3 batches.

Saute the chicken for 3 minutes on each side or until nicely browned then set the cooked chicken aside.

In the same skillet melt the butter. Add in the onions and saute for approx 3-4 minutes. The onions should release enough moisture to allow for you to scrap up the char pieces off the pan which will add great flavor.

Add next the garlic and ginger and saute for one minute. Add the garam marsala, cumin, turmeric and coriander and stir for approx 30 seconds.

Next pour in your tomato puree, chili powder, salt and a touch of black pepper if you wish. Stir and allow the sauce to simmer for approx 10-15 minutes. The sauce will take on a nice deep red brown color.

Stir in the heavy cream and the brown sugar.

Add in the chicken pieces and all of the residual juices.

Simmer the chicken in the sauce for approx 10-12 minutes.

Quick Tip - if the sauce begins to get a little too thick add a few tablespoons of hot tab water until you achieve the consistency you like.

Serve with basmati rice and hot naan bread.

ENJOY!