Chicken Tikka Masala Burritos

Tags

burrito, chicken, curry up now, Indian, tikka masala

Chicken tikka masala is one of my tried-and-true dishes that I’ll make when I’m either craving Indian food or trying to use up the rest of the heavy whipping cream and plain yogurt in the fridge.  In this case, it was the latter.  I bought some Pavel’s yogurt a couple of weeks ago after reading rave reviews about it.  I thought I’d like it, but hated it.  The yogurt was way too tart and the consistency too thin, almost bordering on soupy.  I had spooned out a small portion, tried mixing in some pureed fruit and even some sugar, but it was a lost cause.  I ended up using up the rest of the tub of Pavel’s yogurt in some zucchini bread (recipe coming at some point) and this chicken tikka masala.

I usually eat chicken tikka masala over white rice, but this time around, I decided to make some chicken tikka masala burritos.  I got the idea from Curry Up Now, which is a restaurant in San Mateo, and they have at least three food trucks roaming the Bay Area.  Their chicken tikka masala burritos are so good.  Both Hubby and I were fans after one bite, but I also felt I could easily replicate it at home.  Curry Up Now charges $8 or $9 for a burrito (plus tax and tip), but it only costs me about that much to make a large pot of chicken tikka masala.

So I went to our local Indian market and bought some chapati.

The chapati used at Curry Up Now must be bigger because we were only able to make regular-sized burritos with these, and Curry Up Now’s burritos were quite large (enough to feed 2 people).  Unfortunately, the Indian grocery store only had this one size, so that’s what I had to work with.

I had taken some pictures, but sadly, they didn’t turn out very well because it was dark by the time Hubby and I sat down for dinner.  But these burritos are pretty simple to make:

1. Portion out a small bowl of rice and add chicken tikka masala (we used a 1:1 ratio).  Mix well.

2. Place chicken tikka masala filling onto chapati (no need to heat up chapati ahead of time).

3. Fold in the sides over the filling, then roll up the chapati, burrito style.

4. Enjoy!

Will definitely be making these again!

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Chicken Tikka Masala

Tags

chicken, Indian, spicy, tikka masala

Some of my closest friends in high school were Indian, introducing me to wonderful things like naan, chicken masala, samosas, and numerous other foods whose names I can’t pronounce.  Usually if we ate out at an Indian restaurant, my friends would help me order, moving past the Americanized chicken-satay-on-a-skewer to more authentic dishes.  Birthday parties and graduation parties hosted by these girls centered around lively Bollywood-type music,  intricate dance steps, lively conversation, and of course, tons and tons of delicious Indian food.  Maybe that’s why, all these years later, I still get cravings for Indian food.

I found this great recipe for chicken tikka masala on allrecipes.com.  What I love about this recipe, besides the fact that the finished product is delish, is that its very straightforward.  It does take a while to make due to the marinating and cooking time, but work-wise, its very easy, leaving ample time to prepare the rest of the meal.  I’ve modified it slightly to cook it entirely on the stove-top as I’m too lazy to bust out the grill.  Be warned, this dish does have some kick.  If you don’t like spicy food, you may want to either leave out the jalapeno or decrease the amount of cayenne pepper used.  I left it as is, and the dish had a nice kick to it.  Hubby gave this meal a 9/10, high praise!  🙂

Chicken Tikka Masala, adapted from allrecipes.com

1 c. plain low-fat yogurt
1 T. lemon juice
4 t. ground cumin, divided
1 t. ground cinnamon
2 t. cayenne pepper
2 t. coarse ground black pepper
1 t. ground ginger
4 t. kosher salt, divided
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 T. butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (be sure to discard the seeds and white inner membrane!)
2 t. paprika
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

In a large bowl, blend together 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger and 2 teaspoons kosher salt.  Mix in the yogurt and lemon juice until spices are well incorporated.  Add the chicken and mix well, so that the chicken is well-covered with the marinade.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

In a medium-sized skillet, melt the butter over medium-heat.  Add the garlic and jalapeno, stir-frying until the garlic is lightly toasted.  Season with the remaining 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika and 2 teaspoons kosher salt.  Stir in the tomato sauce and cream.  Add in the chicken, along with the marinade*, mixing thoroughly to ensure all ingredients are well incorporated.  Simmer over low heat for approximately 25 minutes, until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the chopped cilantro, reserving a small amount of chopped cilantro for garnish, and simmer an additional 5 minutes.  Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with the remaining cilantro, and serve over steamed rice.

Serves 4.