Used to have an Indian food restaurant in the small town I grew up in, and I never went to it. Because we never went to it, I never really acquired the desire to have it nor try it. The place shut down, and another one opened in its place. I never really understood this tactic, but then again, I’m not a business major. What kind of culinary adventure did I miss out on in my younger years, and can I right the wrong?
The Prep Table
When looking to do an Indian dish, the first thing that came across was “Butter Chicken”. I read somewhere else that Chicken Tikka Masala was like a spicier Butter Chicken. That made my decision clear. Then I researched that the dish may have originated in England, so whatever. We’re doing this.
When I look to start something new, I probably combine 3-5 recipes together, then add my own touch. It’s no different for this one. When I saw “spicier” butter chicken, I’m thinking it meant “spiced” because I wasn’t going to get any of my kind of spice level from this dish. We gotta fix that one.
First thing you probably notice, I bought the wrong damn yogurt. I was focused on buying the whole milk variety and forgot to omit the word “vanilla” from my search. Oh well, we’re doing it anyway. The second thing you probably see are the habaneros. And jalapenos. We’re going to finely dice these and add a little bit of oomph to that sauce. The only thing I didn’t like – was not having a baseline to know if what I’m doing right, or true.
I then saw to add some “garam masala” spice to the mix. I didn’t know what a garam masala was, so a quick look told me I could make my own with what I got. Perfect. Anytime I start a recipe off with a full tray of ingredients, I get excited. I love some packed flavor in my food, and it appears I’ll get that here.
First step was to mix up and make our garam masala. I did buy a jar in case I needed more as the coriander was getting low. Very aromatic seasoning, this was promising.
I opened up the yogurt container, took a spoonful for breakfast and was like, “oh.. that’s not right”. I realized the vanilla, but used it anyway. As with every cook, there’s always things we change and do better. I like to find that out later on, not when I start the marinade, but here we are. We’re going to mix up the garam masala and other spices, with some garlic and ginger and yogurt and marinade the chicken. I bought these discounted tenderloins and cut them up to a big bite size.
The Process
While the chicken flavoring was being infused, I had a few hours to prepare for the sauce. I diced up an onion, pre-mixed all the seasonings, minced up a ton of garlic, some fresh ginger, and about 5-6 habaneros and a jalapeno. We’re going to skewer the chicken and throw it in the RecTeq to grill it up. Because we had a saucy marinade, I made sure to try to collect any drips, because I just put a scrub on the RecTeq after that brisket cook.
I could’ve used a fifth skewer so they weren’t so tightly packed, but throwing the fork tines between the skewer breaks it back up to how I cut ’em anyway. After these were cooked, it was time to really get going with the sauce.
I ate one chicken bite in the nude, because that vanilla yogurt mishap was still bothering me. It was noticeable, I can’t lie – but it didn’t ruin anything. We’re going to beat back that vanilla with the habanero, so I wasn’t worried about it anymore. The grilled chicken skewers looked (and tasted) phenomenal. We gotta get that sauce going.
Told the Mrs I was going to saute some habaneros in the kitchen, and she went to the gym. That left me with a window to pepper up the kitchen and clear it out before she got home. She still claims it was present in the air, but not like I’ve done in the past. Once our onions/peppers were seasoned and soft, we’re adding the tomatoes.
This was the color I was expecting. Sure, it was beat red before adding the cream. But after a thorough mix, and the addition of the chicken bites, we were back to where I thought it should be. This reduced down to what I thought was a great consistency. And that spice level – not to toot my own horn – was perfect.
The Result
I rushed the rice, so that was the worst part of the meal. Didn’t care. I threw some minced cilantro a top a pile of that chicken tikka masala. The only thing I really cheated was the naan bread. I used a store bought one, but at least used the RecTeq to the wood fire cook on it. It was roasted garlic flavor which matched the flavoring. As good as everything came together, the taste really stayed together for subsequent meals. As I type this, I’ve had it three times with the last of it coming tonight. And it was consistently good.
And yeah, that naan bread with the sauce? chef’s kiss. There was a trendy video where a young lad tried Indian food for the first time, and I felt what we felt. Can’t wait to try some new next time!
Let’s put that chicken front and center before we wrap this up.
