Slummin' it at home

I've not had the occasion or opportunity to go out anywhere very exciting recently. In part to save money, in part to be slightly healthier, and in part due to a slim social calendar, I've chosen to cook at home. Aside from the classics which I have on permanent rotation, I like to add in something new when I have the time and energy. Fortunately, the Chicken Tikka Masala recipe I found on the back of a spice packet required only energy - almost NO time. (image thanks to Megatroncat's blog)

I was somewhat skeptical considering I always assume that good food has to take time and thought, but I was more then pleasantly surprised with the results of this experiment. In short, the chicken was cooked in record time, the spice was warm but not overly hot, the texture was pleasant and it was as aromatic as any fine indian food I've ordered out at restaurants. I would most certainly cook this recipe again; trick will be remembering where I bought the spice packet in the first place. As you can imagine, I am racking my brain!

In short, the recipe called to saute onion, ginger and garlic together in oil. Add the spice packet, heavy on cloves in the one I bought, and cook through to release the oils in the spices. Add 8oz of tomato sauce (I doubled it to thin out the spice flavor), cook 3-4 min. Add cubed raw chicken and cook for 8-10 min. Voila! Now, I only had 1 lb of chicken whereas this called for TWO lbs, so I added chickpeas and cauliflower instead of the second lb of chicken and it was awesome and robust with texture and flavor. I loved it. Served with brown bastmati rice and naan - both purchased premade from the store.

So, I slummed it (and wish I'd though to watch Slumdog Millionaire while eating dinner) - and it was some of the finest dining I've done it in a while. Goes to show that some effort at home can produce a far better meal then some of the shortcut options we have at restaurants when we're feeling short on time and energy. Just say NO to drive-throughs :)