Mouthwatering Monday: Chicken (or Potato) Makhani

Sometimes you invite someone over to your house for dinner and then you have to figure out what meat-and-potato kind of meal you are going to make.  No onions, no spices(save good old salt & pepper), no this, no that.  And that’s ok.  I’d rather know what they do and don’t like so no one has to suffer through a meal they hate.

(FYI:  I hate sea food.  I’m not allergic to it, I just hate it with a passion.  I have suffered through 2 sea food dinners before because I didn’t want to offend my host.  It’s not fun, and I don’t want to subject others to that.)

But sometimes you invite someone over for dinner and you know that they are open for anything, and so you scan through your recipes for something you haven’t made in a long time, but something really good.  Something different.

That happened to me recently and when I decided to make chicken makhani. (I actually ended up making potato makhani because I was out of chicken.)  I called my friend and not only was she ok with the selection, she was excited!  And I was excited that she was excited!  I don’t have many friends who are willing to try Indian food, but I really love it.  I dream of a perfect plate of basmati rice with those little threads of saffron smothered in so-hot-my-eyes-water vindaloo.  Marshall, however, isn’t a fan of burning off his taste buds and crying through dinner, so when I cook Indian food I a)make a milder sauce and b)take a few American shortcuts.  And while the end result isn’t authentic, it tastes pretty darn good(if I do say so myself).

So, without further ado(could I have possibly written a longer intro??), my makhani recipe:

• 3 TBsp butter
• 1 onion(chopped)
• 2 tsp jarred minced garlic
• 1 TBsp tomato paste
• 1(15oz) can tomato sauce
• 1(14.5oz) can diced tomatoes (undrained)
• Homemade Spice Blend: 1 TBsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• Approx 2 cups cooked chicken or cooked potatoes, diced

Melt butter in pan.  Add onions and cook until golden(about 5 minutes).

Add garlic, tomato paste and spice blend.  Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.

Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add cream and stir well until heated through.

Add chicken and/or potatoes.

(Often I make this a few hours ahead of time and leave it on low in the slow cooker.   That gives the chicken or potatoes time to absorb all the flavor.  But it’s still good if you don’t have time for that!)

Serve over hot basmati rice and enjoy!

For more Mouthwatering Monday recipes, visit Rachel at A Southern Fairytale.