Slow Cooker Chicken (And Chick Pea) Tikka Masala (Food Bloggers Change My Life #2)

Have you ever made a recipe for the first time, in someone else's kitchen, for a crowd?

Scary thought, no?  I'd bookmarked this recipe, Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala by Rebecca of Foodie With Family because my family loves Indian food, I love my slow cooker, and her directions seemed clear, easy, and very do-able for me.  I just didn't know when I'd get around to making it.

The wonderful thing about joining a CSA is that you've got seasonal farm fresh vegetables flooding into your kitchen every week.  The annoying thing about being in a CSA is that you've got seasonal farm fresh vegetables flooding into your kitchen every week.

What if you feel like eating tomatoes, the canned ones you've put up, but you've got fresh spinach, Band Fruit Fundraiser citrus, and the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve staring at you reproachfully?

You use the spinach in this, or this, or this.
You use the citrus in this, or this, or this.
You use the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve in this, or this, or this.

You regretfully turn away from your canned tomatoes, knowing that they will be waiting for you when you've dealt with all the fresh stuff.  And then you run away!

You run away to visit your in-laws.  You know that everyone likes to sit down together around the big table and enjoy a meal, and it's awfully nice not to always be the one to make the meal.  So you offer to make a meal one of the nights of your visit.  But what to make?  What will appeal to 4 generations of eaters?

I decided to go for it and make this meal. For the first time.  Not in my own kitchen.  Not just for my family.  Sure, I played it safe and brought with me almost all the ingredients (since I had everything but cilantro on hand already).  I brought my own slow cooker and my own rice cooker.  I even brought my own measuring spoons!

You know what happened?  Thanks to the clear directions, great photos, and excellent recipe it worked out just fine.  It went together easily, the whole crowd ate it, and some even went back for seconds.

This recipe is easy to make.  Click here to read it!  This post is the second in an on-going series about how Food Bloggers Change My Life.  You don't remember reading the first in the series?  Yeah, you're fine, it's not live yet.  I wrote it up after making Chicken Cider Stew from Alanna of Kitchen Parade and A Veggie Venture, but since I'm all about seasonal eating and it's really not cider season, it will be up in the fall.  Meantime, since you've hopefully got jars of crushed tomatoes you put up in the fall . . .
You need a bunch of ingredients, but many of them are pantry staples.

Chicken thighs, greek yogurt, cumin, coriander, kosher salt, chick peas, butter, onion, garlic, garam masala, tomatoes, ginger, sugar, cornstarch, Basmati rice, oops-the peas were hiding in the freezer.  Cream, fresh cilantro, and naan were still at the grocery store when I took this photo.

Marinate the chicken in the yogurt and spices, then give it a brief browning.  (I crowded the pan.)

Dump it in the crock pot.  I am using less meat, so I subbed a can of chick peas (drained and rinsed) and dumped that on top.  I also used less butter, and more tomatoes.

Before you clean the pan, saute onion and garlic in it, then add more spices and tomatoes.  I cracked open the very first quart of tomatoes I'd put up in the fall.  They tasted like crushed tomatoes, so clearly I did it right!

Pour that on top of the chicken and chick peas in the slow cooker.  Rebecca adds a jalapeno here but I wasn't sure about the oldest and youngest generations so I left it out.

Let it go on low for 5 hours while you work on your in-law's Honey Do lists and hit the grocery store to pick up the heavy cream, fresh cilantro and naan that you didn't have back at home.  Have your daughter start the rice cooker while you're out, since you forgot to do it when you got the slow cooker plugged in AND TURNED ON. (Hey, remembering to turn it on is a major accomplishment.)

Combine the cornstarch and cream, stir into the slow cooker, and let it bubble uncovered for about 30 minutes.  Serve over peas & rice, topped with chopped cilantro, with a piece of hot fresh naan on the side. Realize that the humans are not the only ones enjoying the smell emanating from the slow cooker.

Please, go to Foodie with Family and try Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala.  It's delicious!

This post is shared with What's Cookin' Wednesday at Buns In My Oven, Taste and Tell Thursdays, and What's In The Box at In Her Chucks the Farm Girl Blog Fest at Let This Mind Be In You,  Strange But Good at Sprint 2 The Table, and The Clever Chicks Blog Hop at The Chicken Chick.

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