The last time I made Chicken Tikka Masala, I said it was the be-all, end-all recipe (from America’s Test Kitchen) and that I’d probably never try another one. And then I read this recipe using the Sous Vide Supreme PSV-00144 Promo Pack Cooking System. I know that most of you don’t have a sous vide machine, so I’m also including the same recipe done in the slow cooker. And this is surely the time of year when it would be so nice to throw something in the slow cooker, a fix and forget kind of meal.
Do I get cravings? Sure. Like most people, I presume. In #1 position is chocolate. Oh how I wish I didn’t crave it. Not every day, but almost. I do my best to grab about 6 chocolate chips and be satisfied with that. Usually it works. In #2 position is Mexican food. As I’ve explained ages ago here on my blog, growing up in San Diego I went to a favorite restaurant in Old Town (called Aztec Dining Room – long ago closed after the mamasita passed away and the daughter just didn’t want to run the restaurant without her). We, as a family, went there at least once a week. My mother never cooked Mexican food that I can remember – maybe she made cheese enchiladas once in awhile – and she made Tamale Pie. But, I grew up with a craving for Mexican food. In my 20-35 age range I didn’t always live in places where I could go to a Mexican restaurant or buy the ingredients. But once I returned to Southern California, I could happily and easily ease the craving for a good taco or chile relleno (my usual Mexican meal of choice) at our local Mexican places.
Then, probably in 3rd place is Indian food. I don’t cook Indian all that often. Maybe once a month. In between times we go out to a couple of our local restaurants for it.
As a cook who likes to make all kinds of ethnic food, if I have a craving it’s usually not a big deal to just make it myself. And we have several Indian restaurants nearby that do an admirable job; this time, though, I did make it myself. And yes, I was craving Indian food. I wanted chicken in that wonderful creamy sauce – tikka masala. Really, tikka masala is so easy to do, and as I read the recipe at the Sous Vide Supreme website, it just sounded so good – and easy!
The joy of using the sous vide is that whatever you cook, it cooks long and slow at a temperature way below what you’d get on the stovetop or even in the oven. Chicken breasts cook at precisely 146° F. I’ve made lots of different meats in the sous vide, but I’d never done chicken breasts until now. And oh, was it easy and was it ever tender and juicy. They cooked for precisely 2 hours. I vacuum sealed them with just a bit of butter in the packet, and in they went. The sauce what whizzed up in the blender and consisted of crushed canned tomatoes, half and half, ginger, garlic, honey, paprika, cumin, turmeric, coriander and salt. That’s it. That was placed into a Ziploc (freezer) bag and was also placed in the rack in the machine. It sat there for 2 hours also. When I was ready to serve dinner, I removed the packages, poured the sauce, as is, into a pitcher, removed the chicken breasts to a cutting board and cut nice-sized thick slices and placed them on top of some basmati rice and drizzled the sauce over the top and garnished with cilantro. Was that ever easy! With a green salad, there was dinner.
The only thing in the sauce to give it heat (it did have a little) was the ginger. If you or your family are sensitive to heat, use a bit less, perhaps.
What’s GOOD: how very easy this was to make. Also, love-loved the tender, juicy chicken. Even our 2 teenage grandchildren who were here for dinner commented about how juicy the chicken was. For kids, that was interesting to hear them say – that they’d even notice! You can see from the photo – look at the chicken – it’s almost pink. But it isn’t. It’s just that perfect kind of done. Also loved the flavoring in the sauce. It was so easy to make in the blender and pour right into the bag. I had not a single dirty pan to be washed! Just the salad bowl, plates and silverware. How easy is that?
What’s NOT: well, you do have to plan just a bit ahead, but only 2+ hours (or 4-8 for slow cooker). And, you do have to have a sous vide machine. Or, use the slow cooker – see recipe below. I’ll definitely be making this again.
printer-friendly CutePDF (sous vide)
Files: MasterCook 5+ and MasterCook 14 (click link to open in MC)
* Exported from MasterCook *
Tikka Masala Sous Vide
Recipe By: blackpeppercorn.com and sous vide supreme website
Serving Size: 4
CHICKEN BREASTS:
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter — (28 g)
1 pinch salt and pepper
TIKKI MASALA SAUCE:
1 can canned tomatoes — (about 2 cups/240 ml)crushed or strained
2 cups half and half — (480 ml)
1 inch fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves — peeled
1 1/2 tablespoons honey — (22.5 ml)
1 tablespoon paprika — (15 ml)
1 tablespoon ground cumin — (15 ml)
1 tablespoon turmeric — (15 ml)
2 teaspoons ground coriander — (10 ml)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt — (7.5 ml)
2 cups cooked rice — (320 g) for serving (Basmati preferred)
Fresh cilantro — for garnish
1. Fill and preheat the SousVide Supreme to 146F/63C.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken breasts; put them and the butter into cooking pouches and vacuum seal.
3. Into a blender or food processor, add the tomatoes, cream, ginger, garlic, honey and spices and process until smooth.
4. Pour the sauce into a large (gallon/3.8 liter) zip-closure plastic bag. Lay the bag flat, holding zip closure edge up so the contents don’t leak out. Press most of the air out of the bag and seal.
5. Submerge the pouches of chicken and sauce in the water oven and cook for 2 hours.
6. To plate: slice the chicken and drizzle generously with the tikka masala sauce.
7. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.
Per Serving: 515 Calories; 22g Fat (39.0% calories from fat); 35g Protein; 44g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 129mg Cholesterol; 1055mg Sodium.
printer-friendly CutePDF (slow cooker version)
Files: MasterCook 5+ and MasterCook 14 (click link to open in MC)
* Exported from MasterCook *
Chicken Tikka Masala Slow Cooker
Recipe By: blackpeppercorn.com
Serving Size: 4
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups crushed tomatoes — canned
1 piece fresh ginger — peeled, about 1 inch, cut into chunks
4 garlic cloves
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups half and half
4 tablespoons cilantro — for garnish
1. Add tomatoes, ginger, garlic, honey and spices to a blender and process until smooth.
2. Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes.
3. Heat oil in a skillet and brown chicken. Turn after a couple minutes on each side, but do not cook completely.
4. Add the browned chicken to the slow cooker.
5. Pour in the blended tomato mixture. Stir so all the chicken pieces are coated in the sauce.
6. Cover with a lid and set slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours (or 4 hours on high).
7. During last 10 minutes of cooking, in a saucepan, gently heat the half and half to just below a simmer (do not boil). Pour into the slow cooker and stir well.
7. Cover and turn off slow cooker; allow mixture to rest for about 10 minutes.
8. Serve on rice and garnish with cilantro.
Per Serving: 444 Calories; 24g Fat (46.5% calories from fat); 34g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 113mg Cholesterol; 1096mg Sodium (this sodium amount can’t be correct . . . ?).
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