Skillet Curry (Chicken Tikka Masala)

I have a love affair with Indian food. I actually love cooking it more than eating it I would have to say. There is something about building flavors with sweet/spicy that is a challenge I enjoy. One of my favorite ways to do curry is in the crockpot with a ton of veggies. This variation if you will happened because I needed a quick dinner and had to use what I had in the fridge and pantry. This was like an episode of chopped (chicken tikka masala edition). It really turned out great and had enough for lunch today.

What you will need~                      

2 chicken breasts
Can of coconut cream
1 tablespoon of curry paste
2 tablespoons of garlic minced
1 large onion diced
2 cups of tomatoes diced
1 cup of tomato juice
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
2 tablespoons of hot sauce
Curry powder to taste
Gram masala to taste
Ground turmeric to taste (if you have it you can omit as needed)
Olive oil 

Heat up some olive oil and sweat you onions for about 2-5 minutes until they just become soft (on medium high) heat. While this is going on blend up your tomatoes in the food processor. I only had left over grape tomatoes from a pasta salad I made last week. They worked great.

Time to add the curry paste, curry powder, gram masala and garlic. Let it toast up for about 2 minutes or so. The key is to smell it. When the paste and spices start to smell yummy it is time to add the tomatoes.

At this point it will be hard not to eat it. It will smell delightful. You want to let the tomatoes cook for about 3 minutes before adding the coconut milk and tomato juice. When you add the coconut milk turn the heat down to simmer (low). While this is simmering cut up your chicken breasts into chunks. I should have cut them smaller they were rather large (sorry Ryan).

Cover the curry once the chicken is added and simmer it down for at least 15-20 minutes. At this point when I first learned about this dish the coconut milk would break and I would freak out. After much research I learned that in Indian cooking you want this to happen and it is normal. So, if it looks a little greasy on top that is good!

This is what it looks like after being poured over some red lentils I also cooked up. It was soooo good. I usually make mine really spicy but this time it was mellow. Which is perfect when it is hot outside as of late. You could eat this over rice too.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily