Second attempt at Chicken Tikka Makhani

I adore this dish. I've made and blogged about this before, but that was before I had a DSLR, so I wanted to go through a more complete step-by-step tutorial of how to make this dish because it's my favorite thing ever. Tikka Makhani is my favorite Indian dish and this is better than anything I've had in restaurants (okay I'm getting a little cocky). But seriously, give it a try. 

CHICKEN TIKKA MAKHANI

Recipe from Serious Eats

Ingredients for Chicken Tikka:

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 jalapeno chili, seeded and chopped
• 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 Tbsp neutral oil
• 1/2 Tbsp salt
• 1 1/2 Tbsp paprika
• 1/2 Tbsp garam masala (see instructions)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

I made my own garam masala using 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin, 3/4 tsp ground coriander, 5 cardamom pods, 3/4 tsp ground pepper, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, and 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg. Or you can just go buy some at WF or World Market.

Put all of the Chicken Tikka ingredients (minus the chicken!) into the blender.

Blend all ingredients until you get a smooth paste.

Marinate your chicken for several hours or overnight.

Ingredients for the Sauce:

• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp fresh minced ginger
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• Salt
• 1 1/2 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or to taste

Melt the butter.

Add in onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapeno. Stir fry for a couple of minutes.

Add tomato, water, cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.

While the sauce is preparing, you can bake your chicken tikka. 

My oven was being wonky so I ended up cooking it over the stove.

So I just heated some oil in a cast iron dutch oven, then cooked each side of the chicken for about 3 minutes. Make sure to avoid crowding the pan.

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.

When your sauce is done cooking, transfer to a blender.

Blend until smooth.

If you want to be fancy, sieve it through a fine mesh strainer. You can skip this step but the sauce will not be as smooth.

Warning that in exchange for a fancier sauce, the sieving does take awhile. Use a silicone spatula to help you push the sauce through better.

Bring sauce back to stove so that it barely bubbles. Stir in pepper, honey, and heavy cream.

Stir in the chicken pieces.

I had prepped some rice with peas earlier on to with my chicken makhani.

It's flippin' fantastic, trust.