Chicken Tikka Masala from the cookbook Curry Cuisine and Check out Artistta on Cheeseslave!

Wow, life has been incredibly busy as of late. Every time I think I might have a moment to write a blog post, a new things gets piled on and I'm once again off and distracted. I'm not particularly a fan of things being this busy, but alas there is not much I can do about it, except trust the Lord and know that He'll provide if I just take things one step at a time.

We are quickly moving towards the end of our rental lease at our town home (it's up at the end of Sept.) Yesterday there were three showings and thankfully one of the people decided to rent our place. Hurray! No more cleaning for showings. Don't get me wrong I love a clean house, but with two toddlers who's sole mission in life is to pull as much stuff out as possible and better yet bring the outdoors indoors (like dumping sand all over themselves and the carpet), trying to keep a place clean and tidy for showings is exhausting. We have also been looking at homes and researching like crazy. Because we are looking to move out of the cities and have more land to start living a more self sustained lifestyle, the house hunting has lead to many late nights. The driving alone has taken close to an hour one way to get to an area we can come close to affording while still allowing my husband to work in town (this area would be about 40 min. from his job). Hopefully this week, perhaps even today, we are going to put an offer in on a foreclosed home that has 7 beautiful acres with it. It's all in God's hands, as we hope that the bank will come down in price and accept our offer.

In the coming weeks I'll fill you all in on some of the other activities that have been going on, including some things about the movie Farmageddon. Stay tuned because it's exciting!

Today my blog is being featured on Cheeseslave! So cool! Well, at least for me. ;-) Check out the post and take a tour of my kitchen with Ann Marie. In the post I mention one of my families new favorite dishes in Chicken Tikka Masala. This recipe comes from the cookbook Curry Cuisine I picked up at the library and frankly I love the cookbook so much I keep renewing it. I think I am going to have to add it to my permanent cookbook collection.

What You'll Need

Serves 4

6 boned chicken thighs (1½lb or 675g)

Juice from 2 limes

1 tsp paprika

1½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp coriander seeds

2 shallots, roughly chopped

4 large garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and chopped

1½" (4-cm) piece of fresh ginger root, roughly chopped

2 green chilies, seeds removed and roughly chopped

4½ oz (125 g) plain yogurt 

(the recipe calls for Greek yogurt, but I used my homemade stuff)

½ tsp ground garam masala 

1 tbsp vegetable oil 

(I used coconut oil) 

For the Sauce

14 oz (400 g) canned chopped tomatoes

1 rounded tsp tomato paste

handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped 

(I didn't have this and can say the recipe was still excellent) 

1¼" (3-cm) piece of fresh ginger root, grated

1 tsp lime juice

1/2 tsp  cane sugar

3 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

Note: I always use organic ingredients and free-range/grass fed meat for all my recipes.

Getting Started

1. Slice your chicken thighs into 1" chunks, then in a large bowl, combine with lime juice and paprika. 

2. In a small pan, roast the cumin seeds over medium-high heat for about 1 minute. Shake the pan or stir the seeds to keep them from burning. Allow the seeds to cool on a plate, then grind them into a fine powder using a pestle, spice mill or coffee grinder.

3. Place shallots, garlic, ginger and chilies into a food processor. Drain any juice from the chicken mixture you made above and add it to the shallot mixture. Process until smooth.

4. Pour mixture into a bowl and add the yogurt, garam masala and half of the ground coriander seeds and cumin powder. Pour this mixture over top of the chicken pieces, making sure each piece gets well coated.

5. Cover the chicken mixture with a plate or plastic wrap and allow it to marinade overnight. If possible, try and stir it a couple of times to redistribute the marinade.

6. Place a broiler pan under your oven broiler and preheat (I placed my pan about 3/4 of the way up from the bottom of the oven), then arrange chicken pieces on the hot pan. Drizzle with the 1 tbsp of oil and broil the chicken for about 5 minutes on each side.

7. Once chicken is cooked, pour any excess cooking juices into a bowl. Skim off any fat that floats to the top. Place chicken pieces into a bowl and cover to keep warm while you make the sauce.

8. In a blender or food processor, combine tomatoes, tomato paste, coriander leaves, ginger, lime juice, sugar and remaining cumin and coriander powder. Blend until smooth.

9. In a pan, melt the butter, then add the tomato mixture you just blended and the cream. Bring to a simmer then add (straining if necessary) the reserved cooking juices from the chicken. Add the chicken pieces and reheat to piping hot!

Serve immediately with with Indian flat bread and enjoy!