Chicken Tikka Masala
So, our family has come to love Indian food.....not the Navajo kind.....but the East Indian kind from India. About a year ago we went on a fun weekend down to San Diego and stayed right near the Old Town area. One night, while there, we wandered the main street of Old Town and found a restaurant that looked intriguing. Our daughters, 16 years and 12 years, were interested in trying some new foods....." How about Indian food", we said, as we came upon a restaurant called "Masala". The smells coming from the joint were fantastic..... the music was pumping and made you want to break out into a bollywood dance..... the decor was beautiful......the waitstaff smiling and inviting......AND it wasn't crowded..... wait a minute, every other restaurant is standing room only, why is this place not packed? Then the question of, "Is it any good?" came next.... why are there no people? Well, we were starving and it was late, so, we said why not!
Then we were faced with a menu we knew nothing about. What do you order in a place like this? Turns out they have a tasting menu that gives you a bit of the most popular dishes served family style.....think chinese food! So, tasting menus all around, we say, as we set back in our seats listening to the music and watching a real bollywood film on the t.v. monitors overhead. Too fun!
We tried so many wonderful things, most of which I would not be able to recall the names, except for one- Chicken Tikka Masala. We LOVED it! A wonderful dream of a sauce with exotic spices, heavy cream and tomato sauce simmered over grilled chicken.
We wiped up every bit of the sauce with the naan bread and enjoyed every creamy bite!
So, upon coming home we vowed to find a recipe that would duplicate the experience for us at home. Thank you allrecipes.com! They came through with flying colors! What you see here is the product of a lovely recipe...... not too hard, but still requiring enough work to call it gourmet and to impress the family!
Of course, I had to make everthing else from scratch and make it all more difficult but the result was wonderful!
Chicken Tikka Masala paired with rice, garlicky green beans, naan bread and fresh mango slices.
YUMMY!