Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

How is it only Tuesday? Yesterday was probably the longest Monday there ever was and I feel like it should already be Thursday. There is so much change going on at work with the merger, still. Which the continuous change is to be expected, but it's just difficult when it's still technically part of my first year on the job. People are finally moving up and moving on, which will cause an even bigger shift than the overall cultural change of the work environment. Departments have moved out and the new ones have yet to move in. Our on-site staff has shrunk from 25 to 11 and will continue to shrink in the forseeable future, before adding new friends to our House. There's so much going on and it's hard to keep up!

Beyond work though, we are busy as ever trying to speed through to the Thanksgiving break. Will is almost through with his core classes, which means his last semester of taking purely coursework is almost over! He starts his masters project in the spring and only will be taking one graduate-level course, which means we are in the home stretch of school for awhile. He'll have a busy semester between his project and applying for jobs, but we are looking forward to having everything wrapped at the end of the semester and hopefully starting some new adventures! We're keeping our eyes and ears open, so who knows where life will go. It's exciting to look forward to the possibility of what's next, but also makes us impatient at the same time! It makes it impossible to plan, but we look forward to whatever comes our way. We already know the spring holds a trip to Seattle, NYC and South Africa, so it's not all bad! No matter what happens though, you know Will will always be cooking, so I will always be able to provide you with gems like this recipe :)



Cooking Notes: We used chicken breasts instead of thighs, since it was what we had on hand. We also only did 1 tbsp of garam masala, because even though we love it, it can easily overwhelm. We also selected to use heavy cream, not milk, for this because heavy cream makes everything good.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala (serves 6; adapted from The Kitchn)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece whole ginger, peeled and grated
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp paprika (smoked recommended)
2 tsp salt
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup heavy cream
Fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cups cooked basmati rice, to serve

Begin by dicing the onions and mincing the garlic. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in a little olive oil. Saute the onions and garlic until soft, then add the ginger, tomato paste and spices until fragrant.

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a large slow cooker (approx. 3 qt. or more). Stir in the onion mixture until the chicken is evenly covered with spices. Stir in the diced tomatoes with their juices. Cover the slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on low (or 4 hours on high). 15 minutes before the end of your cooking time, stir in the heavy cream leaving the slow cooker uncovered for the remainder of the cooking time. Taste and add more garam masala or salt, as needed. Serve over basmati rice with fresh cilantro* sprinkled on top. Enjoy!

*Or no cilantro, if you're not a cilantro person.

Recipe: The Kitchn: Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala