So, this is obviously an Indian dish. I only know a handful of them well enough to create on my own. Chicken tikka masala can be done a lot of different ways, in varying degrees of complexity; the recipe that follows is probably the easiest one you’ll ever find. It also isn’t spicy whatsoever. You can change that by adding some crushed red pepper or, if you’re V, Sriracha. Or even green chilies. But as written, this is about as safe of an Indian dish as there is. Safe but still REALLY GOOD.

Skillet Chicken Tikka Masala

(adapted from http://foodgawker.com/post/2012/10/18/198973/)

Ingredients:

*15 oz can diced tomatoes

*1 to 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into 1-inch pieces)

*1 tbsp vegetable oil

*1 onion, finely chopped

*1 tbsp garam masala

*2 minced garlic cloves

*1 tsp grated ginger

*1/2 cup heavy cream or half-and-half

*1 tbsp dried parsley

Directions

Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Add the vegetable oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat; mix in the chicken pieces. Cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove to a plate.

Reduce the heat a bit and add the onions to the skillet. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until translucent. Stir in the garam masala, garlic, and ginger, taking care to mix it well with the onion and scrape the sides of the skillet.

Pour the diced tomatoes into a food processor and pulse briefly. You just want to break up the larger pieces. Add the tomatoes to the skillet and bring the whole thing to a simmer; reduce to medium-low, cover, and cook for a few minutes until it has thickened somewhat.

Stir in the cream and return the chicken (with its juices) back to the pan. Allow the sauce to meld with the chicken for a couple minutes, then stir in the parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice or with roti/naan.

Notes

Careful not to burn your onions. Maybe that’s just my stove that has a tendency to do burn really quickly with onions.

You really “should” eat it with naan, but I had potatoes that needed using up so I cooked up some roasted taters instead. And I’m going to give you that recipe too! Because I tried it a different way this time, and it was FANTASTIC.

Crispy Roasted Potatoes

(adapted from various different Pinterest posts)

Ingredients

*about 1 pound small yellow or red potatoes (or hell, mix ’em up)

*2 tbsp olive oil

*1 tbsp rosemary

*grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Quarter the potatoes and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Nuke for 10 minutes. Drain of any excess water. Coat a pan with nonstick cooking spray or some olive oil. Add the potatoes in a single layer, if possible. Drizzle more olive oil on top. Add rosemary and Parmesan, if you want.

Place in oven and cook for about 20 minutes, give or take the temperament of your oven. Mine were done at 18 minutes.

The outsides were deliciously brown and crisp; the insides, fluffy and moist and melt-in-your-mouth. They tasted buttery, but I didn’t add any butter. Yummmmmmm. Definitely using this method for roasted potatoes from here on out.