Chicken Tikka Masala Just Got Easier Thanks To Your Slow Cooker - Tasting Table

"According to Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table, chicken tikka masala is an Indian restaurant favorite for a reason. It's made by first toasting aromatic spices, then mixing them with yogurt to make a marinade for the chicken, cooking the chicken in the tandoor oven, and then finishing it off in a layered, sweet and spicy creamy sauce: It's the crown jewel of many a restaurant. In our recipe, we follow much of the same pattern, except we leave out the tandoor and use the long, slow cooking of the crockpot to make succulent, tender chicken pieces that are swimming in a velvety, deeply seasoned sauce."

"Topped with a smattering of jewel-red pomegranate seeds, a drizzle of tangy yogurt, and some freshly minced, fragrant cilantro, the dish feels luxurious and looks like you've spent hours making it. And if no one knows that most of those hours involved a machine doing the work for you? That's not our secret to tell."

"For the marinade, you'll need fresh grated ginger, minced garlic, garam masala, paprika, ground coriander, ground cumin, ground turmeric, yogurt, salt, and boneless chicken thighs. For the sauce, you'll need to start with ghee, butter, or oil for sauteing. Ghee, which is regular unsalted butter that has been cooked and clarified of all the milk solids, is the traditional Indian option. If you have it on hand, great - it'll give your chicken tikka masala a more traditional taste and a clear base for the sauce. But if you don't have any, you can use regular butter or your preferred neutral-tasting oil."

A slow cooker version of chicken tikka masala produces restaurant-quality results at home with far less active work. Toasted aromatic spices are mixed into a yogurt marinade for boneless chicken thighs, replacing tandoor cooking with long, slow crockpot cooking to yield succulent, tender pieces. The sauce begins with ghee or butter, sautéd onion, crushed tomatoes and heavy cream, producing a layered, sweet and spicy creamy sauce. The finished dish is garnished with pomegranate seeds, a tangy yogurt drizzle and fresh cilantro for a luxurious presentation.

Read at Tasting Table