There are plenty of recipes on-line for this traditional dish and they are really good. But, since Indian food tends to include multitudes of spices that we may not all have on-hand, I found a short-cut with Moroccan Tagine spice mix. The flavor profiles are very similar...actually they are darn near the same...so I tried it, and it worked!
If you have a 1/4 C of Moroccan Tagine spice mix to put to use and are looking for a warm and satisfying meal - give this a shot.
What you will need:
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs - cut into bite-size chunks
1 C plain Greek yogurt
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 C Moroccan Tagine spice mix
1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1 stick of unsalted butter (yep...a whole stick)
1 T olive oil
1 small yellow onion - finely chopped
3 cloves of fresh garlic - minced
2 T fresh ginger - minced or grated (if you don't have this it's not the end of the world. But, in that case, I might add another Tablespoon or so of spice mix)
1 thai or Serrano chili pepper - minced (optional ingredient for more spice)
1 C crushed tomatoes
1 tsp tomato paste
1/2 C chicken broth (or water)
1 C unsweetened canned coconut milk (or 1 C heavy cream)
1 can rinsed and drained chickpeas (optional)
1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley/mint) for garnish
What you do:
Marinade the chicken chunks in the yogurt, lemon, salt, and spices for an hour or more.
Melt 3/4 stick of butter and oil in a large, high-sided skillet over med-low heat.
Add the onions, garlic, ginger, and chili and sauté' for about 5 minutes. Don't let the butter brown.
Stir in crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Give it a sec.
Stir in the chicken and all the marinade.
Stir in chicken broth to loosen it up.
Simmer, uncovered on med-low heat for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to scrape up the bottom.
If you are adding the chickpeas, do it now. They aren't essential - they just help it go around a little more.
Stir in the coconut milk (or cream) and simmer another 10 minutes - stirring here and there. Taste for salt.
Turn off the heat and stir in the remaining 1/4 stick of butter.
Top with fresh cilantro and serve with rice or na'an.
So tasty.
*To make vegetarian, just saute' the some chunky veggies (carrots, zucchini, etc) with the butter, onions, garlic, and ginger. Then stew them with the chickpeas in the rest of the ingredients until desired tenderness. You can also add roasted cashews, peanuts, or almonds at the end if you want to bump up the flavor and protein.
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