recommendation: crockpot Indian dish

Well my quest to make a new Indian dish every two weeks has failed but I'm still trying to fit Indian food in the rotation every now and then. Some Indian food is time consuming (unless you make it THIS way)!

I decided to give this Chicken Tikka Masala crock-pot recipe from Real Simple a go, and it seemed pretty simple. I love crock pot meals on the days I go to visit my Grandma because I'm normally gone the whole day so when I come home, dinner is almost done, whoo hoo! The recipe was pretty good - a little more tomato-y than Indian-y but I think that 1. this is good for people who are new to trying Indian food and 2. It was just so easy that I would make this again based on that. Here are my comments:

Notes:
- I used minced garlic instead of chopped cloves. Remember - 1/2 TSP MINCED garlic = 1 TSP CHOPPED Garlic = 1 WHOLE Clove
- Garam Masala is hard to find, most normal grocery stores don't have it. You'll probably have to visit your local Indian or ethinic foods grocery store (A2 and Chicago, see my store suggestions here) or order it on Amazon (although it will be MUCH cheaper in a grocery store)
- I added "JEERA" which means Cumin to my cucumber salad. I only use ground roasted cumin as I'm not a huge fan of the whole seed. To make it, roast the seeds in a skillet over medium-high heat until they darken, watch carefully so they don't burn. Then grind them in a coffee grinder - I HIGHLY suggest you have a separate spice grinder as this spice has a strong smell and you don not want your coffee beans tasting like cumin!! The seeds should grind into a dark brown powder. I use this when recipes call for cumin but use a little less as its a stronger flavor.

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons garam masala (Indian spice blend)
kosher salt and black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (I left this out, didn't want to spend the money and I don't like cilantro!)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup basmati or some other long-grain white rice

Directions
- In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, tomato paste, garam masala, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, cover, and cook until the chicken is tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours (this will shorten total recipe time).
- In a small bowl, toss the cucumber and cilantro with the lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

- Twenty minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.
- Just before serving, stir the cream into the chicken tikka masala. Serve over the rice with the cucumber relish.

We ate with a lot of veggies and had smaller servings of the actual chicken and rice. I had my beet salad (from Plum Market), a fresh mango, and some roasted cauliflower (chop up, toss with olive oil or spray with Pam, salt, pepper, curry powder and ground roasted cumin (recipe above), roast in oven on 425 for 30 min. p.s. if you are ever wondering how to pronounce this, its Chicken Tikka (TEE-KA) Masala (MAS-ALL-AH).

ENJOY!

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Source: realsimple.com via Stephanie on Pinterest