Projects | Mostly Beans

Chicken Tikka Masala

Prep Time30

Cook Time45

Marinating4

Total Time5 15

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Chicken, Meat

Servings: servings

Calories: 614kcal

Ingredients

Ginger-Garlic Paste:

½ cup cloves garlic whole
½ cup fresh ginger peeled, cut into 1/2-inch slices
¼ cup canola oil

Marinade:

1 cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Sauce:

2 tsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
⅓ cup Ginger-Garlic Paste recipe follows (or 6 cloves garlic and 2-inch thumb ginger minced)
2 serrano peppers minced (seeds removed if you don’t want it spicy)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp paprika
8 Roma tomatoes diced
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
1 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil for chicken
½ cup heavy cream
fresh cilantro minced, for garnish

Instructions

Ginger-Garlic Paste:

Add 1/2 cup cloves garlic, 1/2 cup fresh ginger, and 1/4 cup canola oil in a mini-food processor and process until it is a semi-smooth paste.

Marinade:

In a large tupperware, mix together 1 cup plain yogurt and whisk until it is smooth.
Add 3 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, and 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks and poked with a fork. Toss everything to coat. Marinate at least 30 minutes, or in the refrigerator up to overnight.

Sauce:

The cooking goes fairly quickly, so I like to chop the 2 serrano peppers and 8 Roma tomatoes in advance.
When you're ready to make the curry, place a large skillet over medium heat and add 2 tsp olive oil and melt 3 tbsp butter.
Add the remaining 1/3 cup Ginger-Garlic Paste and the chopped serrano peppers. Saute until lightly browned around the edges.
Add 2 tbsp tomato paste and cook until the tomato has darkened in color, about 3 minutes.
Add 1 tsp garam masala and 2 tsp paprika and saute for about 1 minute to draw out their flavors.
Add the tomatoes, 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and 1 cup water, more if the tomatoes do not have a lot of liquid.
Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and cook until thickened, about 20 minutes. You may need more water depending on how much liquid the tomatoes give off.
Meanwhile, cook the chicken in a separate pan with 2 tbsp olive oil. Shake off some of the excess marinade and cook for about 2 minutes on each side. Don't worry that the chicken will still be a little uncooked, it finishes cooking in the sauce.
Once the chicken is done and the sauce is cooked down, use an immersion blender to blend the sauce (or put into a blender or food processor and transfer back to the pan) and bring to a boil again.
Add the chicken. Take the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the 1/2 cup heavy cream and stir through.
Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve.

Nutrition

This is a classic from the archives – nearly seven years old as I update and retype this in 2021. This is homemade gourmet at its best.

This makes two separate servings of two. Refrigerate or freeze the excess pasta and use only half of the “sauce” ingredients per each time you cook it.

Print Recipe

Spinach Pasta

Prep Time1 30

Cook Time15

Total Time1 45

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: California

Keyword: Pasta

Servings: servings

Calories: 708kcal

Equipment

Food processor
Pasta rollers

Ingredients

Pasta

10 oz frozen spinach thawed, pressed, and chopped
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 tbsp water

2 pints cherry tomatoes halved
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp red pepper flakes

Instructions

Make Pasta

To remove moisture from the spinach, microwave it for a about 1 minute and then press as much water out of it as you can in a mesh strainer. Use towels (or paper towels) to further dry it. Once as dry as possible, chop it in a food processor until very fine.
With the flat beater on, combine the spinach and 4 cups flour into the stand mixer bowl and stir them up a bit. Then add the 4 eggs and 1 tbsp water and mix with the flat beater for about 30 seconds until it comes together.
4 cups all-purpose flour, 4 large eggs, 1 tbsp water
Switch to the dough hook and mix on low for about 2 minutes. Remove the dough and knead by hand for a few minutes, adding extra flour to the get the right consistency, which is stiff, but pliable and not sticky at all.
Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes. Do not refrigerate or it will be too cold.
Cut the dough ball into eight equal pieces and work on one piece at a time. Use plenty of flour. Start with the widest setting on the roller and put it through a few times, folding it over in half in between passes. At the end your sheet should be the exact width of you pasta roller. If the dough starts to stick at all, dust the sheet of pasta with flour. Then you can work it through the roller until it gets down to your desired thickness (setting 4 is ideal for thick but manageable pasta).
Cut the pasta as desired and hang to dry on a pasta tree.

Storing Extra Noodles

Place nests of pasta in a freezer bag and store until you want to cook them (no more than one month is ideal).

Cooking the Pasta

For fresh or frozen pasta, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When it’s boiling, add your pasta. After 3 or 4 minutes all the pasta should be floating and that means it’s done.

For the Basic Sauce

As the pasta is cooking, add 1 pint of halved cherry tomatoes with 2 tbsp of olive oil to a large skillet and put it over high heat with 1 tsp of red pepper flakes and 1 tsp salt. Don’t completely cook down the tomatoes, just heat them up and get the flavors to combine some. Turn the heat to low.
2 pints cherry tomatoes, 1 tsp salt, 4 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp red pepper flakes
When the pasta is done you can use tongs to pull it out of the water and add it straight to the pan with the tomatoes, allowing a bit of the pasta water to come with the noodles. Stir a bit to cook off the pasta water and serve immediately.

Notes

Serves 4

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Spinach Pasta

Amount Per Serving

Calories 708 Calories from Fat 180

% Daily Value*

Fat 20g31%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Trans Fat 1g

Cholesterol 164mg55%

Sodium 742mg32%

Potassium 975mg28%

Carbohydrates 109g36%

Fiber 7g29%

Sugar 7g8%

Protein 23g46%

Vitamin A 10002IU200%

Vitamin C 58mg70%

Calcium 165mg17%

Iron 10mg56%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.