Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big fan of make-your-own-takeout. Not only is it economical, but I also think that many Asian dishes are pretty easy to make, and I often have most of the spices and necessary ingredients in my cupboard. From curry powder to garam masala to ginger, most have similar flavor profiles which make the dishes easy to make and in my opinion, not too difficult to mess up.

One thing that I hadn't attempted before in making my own Asian carryout was to use a slow cooker. Two weekends ago I found I had a craving, a slow-cooker, and a cooking partner in crime. The result was this lighter version of a butter chicken that makes enough to feed a small army.

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken (serves 8)

Ingredients:

• 1 TB olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 (14-oz.) can light coconut milk
• 1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
• 2 TB whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. garam masala
• 1 tsp. curry powder 
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (I like my dishes a little hot, so I think this helped with the flavor)
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder, or more, to taste
• 1/2 tsp. ginger powder
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 TB chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, tomato paste, flour, garam masala, curry powder, chili powder and ginger powder until well combined and slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place chicken into a slow cooker. Add sauce mixture and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 hours.

Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro, if desired. We made with brown rice for a healthy lunch that also froze pretty well.

Chicken Tikka Masala

For regular blog readers, you all know that I like to cook a variety of ethnic dishes. My interests often lean toward Asian foods so it came as a bit of a surprise to me when I realized that I have never attempted Indian food. This may be a partial lie, because I have made tandoori chicken before, but it was a very long time ago and I'm sure I tried to make it healthy and therefore lost the true essence of the traditional flavors. But not this time! I went all in with this Indian dish. Heavy cream? Check. Full-fat yogurt? Check. Lots of awesome spices? Check! Check! The resulting dish made for a small army, but I imagine you could easily cut this in half. I served with a brown basmati rice.

Chicken Tikka Masala (serves 8)

Ingredients:

• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 tsp. ginger, grated
• 4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 1/2 cups whole-milk yogurt (not Greek!)
• 1 TB kosher salt
• 2 lbs., boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise
• 3 TB ghee (or vegetable oil)
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 6 cardamom pods, crushed
• 2 dried chiles de arbol (or 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes)
• 1 28-oz can whole, peeled tomatoes
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cups chopped cilantro

Directions:

Combine garlic, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, coriander, and cumin in a small bowl. Whisk yogurt, salt, and half of spice mixture in a medium bowl; add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and chill 4-6 hours. Cover and chill remaining spice mixture.

 

Heat ghee in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion, tomato paste, cardamom, and chiles and cook, stirring often, until tomato paste has darkened and onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add remaining half of spice mixture and cook, stirring often, until bottom of pot begins to brown, about 4 minutes.

 

Add tomatoes with juices, crushing them with your hands as you add them. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, until sauce thickens, 8-10 minutes.

 

Add cream and chopped cilantro. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, 30-40 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, preheat broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and set a wire rack inside sheet. Arrange chicken on rack in a single layer. Broil until chicken starts to blacken in spots (it will not be cooked through), about 10 minutes.

 

Cut chicken into bite-size pieces, add to sauce, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, 8-10 minutes. Serve with rice and cilantro sprigs.