Tikka Masala

A long time ago, I promised to post about my tikka masala. Since I'm in a mood to do some corrupting, now seems like a good time!

Chicken Tikka Masala

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs

1 cup yogurt
1 Tbsp curry powder
2 Tbsp Tikka Masala spice (I get mine from http://worldspice.com)
2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 medium chopped onion
1-2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup tomato puree
1-2 Tbsp ginger paste
1-2 Tbsp fresh crushed garlic
1 tsp salt
2 tsp honey
1 tsp curry powder

Cut chicken into chunks.
Mix yogurt, lemon juice, tikka masala and curry powder. Add the chicken and marinate overnight.

Next day, saute the onion in the oil until it starts to caramelize.

 Scoop the chicken out of the marinade, and into the pan with the onions.  A decent amount of the marinade will come with the chicken, but leave what you can in the bowl. Set the marinade aside, and cook the chicken until there is no pink showing on the outside.

 With a slotted spoon, scoop the chicken out and put it in the bottom of a casserole dish. Most of the juices and onions will stay in the pan. Sprinkle the salt over the chicken.

And you're left with this in the pan.

Add the ginger, garlic, honey, curry powder and salt to the pan the chicken was cooked in. stir it together. Once it's mixed, add the tomato puree. Cook it all together until it starts to thicken and hold together as a sauce--about 5 minutes.

Pour the tomato sauce over the chicken. Spread it around so the chicken is covered, more or less.

Pour the leftover marinade over the top and spread it around so it's all in a fairly even layer.

Bake it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Start rice cooking just before you out it in the oven, and they should be done at the same time. Some steamed green beans go with it really well, although it's not exactly traditional.

I have made this with tofu instead of chicken, and it worked well. I would add some extra yogurt to the leftover marinade, because the tofu will definitely soak up a lot of moisture. Use extra firm tofu, and press it for several hours/overnight before putting it in the marinade, then follow the same procedure.

Latest Batch of Yarn

 

Here is my latest batch of yarn. As soon as I can get nice pictures and figure out names for them, I'll be listing them on etsy, in the Celebrations store. If you'd like to speed up the process, you can suggest some names :) What cities do those colors remind you of?

My attempt at daily posting really fell apart, and I missed like 10 days. All I can say is that it was a rather busy 10 days.

Remember the serger research I mentioned? Well, I went to the dealer to check out their Black Friday preview sale, and found the one I had decided on 55% off, so needless to say, I now have a serger. All I need to do now is figure out how to use the thing! Surprisingly enough, I have never used one, in all the time I've been sewing.

Last Saturday evening, I went to a friend's full moon gathering and housewarming party. Colorful kitchen towels and/or dishcloths had been requested to break up the beige a bit, so I brought these 2 towels for a housewarming gift.

 

 I made this floursack towel in the same batch of dyeing, and I think it's going to end up being an embroidered altar cloth.

I had some good knitting fun this week, too. Finished up the scarf, and started working on the matching hat. The hat went super fast! And then, I was left with no knitting to work on. My hands did not like the sitting still that entailed. So, I made plans to go to the local yarn shop and get myself another project. I am not a big Black Friday shopper, and never have been. I do like to go out to a few selected places, though.

Once we got to the yarn store and started poking around, my husband picked up some yarn and said that he liked the color, and that it felt nice, and that if I wanted to make a scarf for him, he would wear that. So, while another scarf had not necessarily been on my list of near future projects, I jumped on the opportunity to make something  for him. He doesn't generally actually want me to make anything for him! Because he likes plain, simple things, and doesn't like to make anyone go to extra effort on his behalf, even if it is fun effort.

I love it when it starts getting into cold weather. Winter squash, and soup, and other good, hearty winter food is SO nice. I got to make one of my favorites the other night--kielbasa, pierogies, and onions. So simple, and so good. Basically, you just slice up some onions and sautee them in some butter. Add some sliced up kielbasa, and then a few minutes later, throw in the pierogies. (I like potato and cheese) sautee everything until the pierogies are nice and golden. Add a little bit of beer while it's all cooking (or use water if you must.) Then, have the beer that's left to drink with your delicious meal!