Chicken Tikka Masala with Jeweled Saffron Rice

1. Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients

Chicken tikka: 1 kg prepared chicken tikka (recipe here on the blog)
Onion: 3 large (very finely chopped) 

Tomato puree: 1 can or 400 gms 

Ginger/garlic paste: 1 tablespoon 

Red Chilli: To taste

Salt: To taste

Cumin: 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon 

Double/Sour cream: 1 cup 

Garam masala: 1 tsp

Dried fenugreek (qasuri methi): 1 tbsp

Butter 3-4 tbsp

For garnish: Green chillies, coriander.

Instructions

1. Take a pan and add butter and a little oil in it (oil is added to make sure butter does not burn). 

2. Saute chopped onion until it is light golden brown in color. 

3. Add zeera and saute for a minute or so.

4. Now add ginger and garlic paste and spices like red chilli, salt and turmeric. Stir for 2, 3 minutes. 

5. Add tomato puree to the onion mixture. Cook it like a traditional "masala". 

6. Once the tomato and onion mixture is cooked well, add the chicken tikka into it. Stir for 2,3 minutes and add cream and dried fenugreek into it. Add garam masala also. Let it cook, covered for 5-6 minutes on low heat. Remove from the heat now.

7. Give smoky flavor to your dish by this technique*.

Garnish with green chillies and coriander. Trickle a little cream over the surface. Serve with tandoori naan.

*Instead of using a glass to put the coal in, i used cabbage leaves. You can use a slice of bread as well. 

2. Jeweled Saffron Rice

Ingredients

Basmati rice: 2 cups (Boil until 95% cooked with 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 black cardamom, few cloves, 1 bay leaf)

Peas: 1/2 cup, boiled

Carrots: 1/2 cup, peeled and cut into pea-sized cubes

Capsicum or green bell pepper: 1/2 cup, cut into pea-sized cubes

Dried barberries or Dried cranberries or Fresh pomegranate seeds: 1/2 cup

Saffron threads: 1/4 tsp, put in 1/4 cup warm milk and keep tightly covered.

Butter: 2 tbsp

Oil: 2 tbsp

Onion: 1 medium, thinly sliced

Green onion: 1/2 cup, cut pea-sized, keep white and green parts separate.

Cumin: 1 tsp

Garlic: 2 tbsp, chopped

Black pepper: 1/2 tsp or to taste

Instructions

1. Saute barberries/cranberries with a little butter+sugar for a few minutes and keep aside. Their color should not change. Be careful because they burn really fast. If using, fresh pomegranate seeds, skip this step and go to step 2 directly.

2. Heat up oil+butter in a pan. Add onion to it and fry until golden brown. 

3. Add cumin and garlic and saute for 2 minutes until cumin releases its aroma and garlic turns light golden.

4. Add white part of the green onion, carrots and capsicum and saute for a 3-4 minutes. 

5. Add peas and green part of the green onion and saute for a minute.

6. Put boiled rice in the pan over the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Toss gently until the rice is thoroughly mixed with the vegetables. Reason of keeping rice a little stiff while boiling is to make sure that it does not break once you toss it with the vegetables.

7. Drizzle saffron+milk mixture over the rice in circular motion or in different spots over the surface. That way some rice will remain white and some will be yellow afterwards. 

8. Cover with a lid and lower the flame to a bare minimum. Let the rice cook for 10-15 minutes until tender. 

9. Serve the rice with the barberries/cranberries or fresh pomegranate seeds on top. 

Happy eating. :)