Skinny Chicken Tikka Masala

Last week, I got an e-mail from Karen, iRun’s Endorphin Junkie, with the subject line, “What’s Cookin’?” The body of the e-mail said: “THIS. Easy, delicious, and even light!” I took this to be a hint so I made the dish last night. Karen was exactly right! Original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:

2 tsp canola oil or you could use butter

1 small onion, minced

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes from which I’d drained some of the liquid.)

4 oz fat free yogurt (I used Greek yogurt.)

1/2 cup 1% milk

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric (optional)

1/2 tbsp chili powder

salt to taste

16 oz (2 boneless) chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

4 tbsp fresh cilantro (or to taste) (Sadly, I didn’t have any cilantro but I’m sure it would taste better with.)

Directions:

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until golden. Add the crushed ginger, stir for a few minutes then add the garlic and cook another minute. Add cumin, garam masala, turmeric, chili powder, and salt; mix well until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, yogurt and milk. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Add chicken and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes or until cooked through. Add a generous amount of chopped cilantro and serve with Bamati Rice or Naan.