Foodie Favs: Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala!

I have been on a curry and Indian food kick for some time now. I think I narrowed it down to a reason - a) I work in a library that has a large Indian population, and this includes some of the employees who bring their delicious lunches and heat it up so the entire break room and the rest of the library smells like their amazing food *INHALE*. And b) I am listening to "The Hundred Foot Journey" (review to come) and the beginning is highly steeped in Indian food. Remember in my last post how I wrote about how crazy I am about bold flavors? This one takes BOLD to the ultimate. I mean with onion, garlic, tomato, lemon, Garam Masala, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and coconut milk, how can this NOT be packed full of flavor?

I cooked this in the crockpot and the chicken was so moist and tender that it fell apart with a tap of the fork. The potatoes, after 6 hours in the crock pot, still had a little bit of give to them, which I like better than mushy potatoes that fall apart and get all mixed into the sauce like mashed potatoes.

I recommend serving this with brown rice, with naan, or over broccoli (natures sponge) as a healthier alternative because this yields a lot of sauce.

This recipe was found on Pinterest and links to this site.

Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 pound potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used fingerling)
• 1/2 large yellow onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons freshly, finely grated ginger
• 1 (29 oz) can tomato puree
• 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Garam Masala (found in the spices section of most grocery stores)
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1-3 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used 2 and it was pretty hot for me)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• Chopped cilantro, for serving

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Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine onion, garlic, ginger, tomato puree, yogurt, oil, lemon juice, Garam Masala, cumin, paprika, salt, cinnamon, pepper, and cayenne.
2. Place the chicken and potatoes in the slow cooker then pour the sauce over. Gently stir to coat.
3. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or until potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked.
4. In the last 20 minutes of cooking, mix together coconut milk and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir the mixture into the slow cooker and let thicken. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

The only thing I did here was I used 2 chicken breast instead of 3 (but regretting it, the chicken is so damn good), and I used onion powder instead of an actual onion. I also used 3 tbsp of flour instead of cornstarch because I totally thought I had it and I didn't.

ENJOY!