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We had our lovely blogging team over for our annual holiday dinner the other night! Here’s the crew (at least those of us who live in Charlotte). I feel SO lucky to have had these talented individuals on our team for years now.
Everyone brought their spouse along, and let’s just say that I was hurting the next day. It’s amazing how I no longer feel like I’m in my 20’s after a fun night like that!
Aside from the fun, we enjoyed some great food as well. We do these holiday events potluck style because we’re a bunch of foodies after all! And as I’ve shared in the past, we’ve got some food allergies and sensitivities in the group, so picking a theme for the menu is always interesting. This year I chose Indian food because I thought we could easily avoid dairy and gluten (and any other offenders) and still end up with something tasty. Oh, and I’d been working on a Tandoori Chicken recipe that I just knew would be a perfect fit for the main course!
Here’s what was served…is your mouth watering yet?
Menu Details
- Amy was in charge of appetizers and brought two deeelicious dips: Pomegranate Avocado Salsa and an eggplant dip both served with whole-grain crackers. This is how she made the eggplant dip: Cut 1 eggplant, 2 bell peppers, and 1 red onion into 1 inch cubes. Toss them in bowl with 2 minced cloves of garlic, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt & 1/2 teaspoon black pepper then roast at 400 degrees F for about 45 min. – until the veggies are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking. Place the veggies in a food processor , add 1 tablespoon tomato paste and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend.
- Shawn brought a huuuge salad with two homemade dressings and roasted chickpeas to go on top. The salad was a big mix of veggies (no particular recipe), and for her creamy dressing, she blended 1 cup cashew cream (from the Deliciously Organic cookbook), 3 teaspoons curry powder, 1 clove garlic, and juice from half a Meyer lemon, and then drizzled in olive oil until she got the right consistency.
- Kiran brought Chana Masala along with a tomato and onion side salad. She is half Indian, so she was excited to share these traditional dishes with us!
- As I mentioned, I made an easy dairy-free Tandoori Chicken (recipe below) with brown rice.
- And my husband (yes, he can cook!) made Coconut Milk Ice Cream with cardamom and pistachios.
It was all soooo good – I was literally STUFFED by the end of the night! And luckily, since I tripled the chicken recipe, we had leftovers the next day that my whole family gobbled up in no time. This one is definitely going to be a new staple at our house. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Weeknight Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs (boneless and skinless)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil ((or coconut oil))
- 1 13-oz can coconut milk
- 1 8-oz can tomato sauce (plain)
- 2 ounces spinach (fresh)
Recommended Accompaniments
- cilantro
- fresh mint
- brown rice
- plain yogurt ((omit the yogurt to be dairy-free))
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the garlic powder, coriander, cumin, ginger, salt, and cayenne with a fork. Dredge each piece of chicken in the spices and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken, sprinkle any remaining spices on top, and sear for a couple of minutes until golden brown on both sides.
- Add the coconut milk and tomato sauce to the pan, bring to a boil, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the chicken is done all the way through (no longer pink), about 8 – 10 minutes.
- Layer in bowls with brown rice on the bottom, then spinach, chicken, sauce, yogurt, and fresh herbs. Enjoy!
How can you call this healthy with the sodium so high. You can’t raise children on meals loaded with all this salt.
Hi Sue, there was an error while recording the nutrition facts. We have updated it. – Nicole
This was delicious! We all loved it except for my youngest who doesn’t like anything with tomato in it. I am definitely making again.
This recipe tasted fine but not really sure why it is called tandoori chicken as it is so different than actual tandoori chicken. I only had bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs so I removed the skins to save for later (going to bake them up for a treat) and ended up cooking for an additional 9 minutes with the lid removed to further reduce the sauce which was very thin otherwise and needing more depth of flavor. I understand this is meant for weeknights when you have less time to get a meal on the table, but in the future if I make this again, I will plan for extra time and likely double or nearly double the spice amounts as it was just not flavorful enough once mixed with rice. I too added 1 tsp garam masala like another reviewer, and I cut the cayenne down to 1/8 tsp because our daughter doesn’t like anything spicy.
This was delicious! I was out of yogurt, but it would definitely be tasty with a little dollop and would help to cut the heat for anyone who might be sensitive to it. It was the perfect amount of heat for me. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this tandoori chicken and coupled it with green rice from Kathryn Taylor’s Love Real Food (from her Tikka Masala recipe) and it was absolutely incredible. I’d definitely do it again and recommend it!
So I’m making this tonight but saw yogurt mentioned in the comments…I’m only seeing coconut milk in the recipe posted. Did the recipe change? Or do I need to go get yogurt?
Yogurt can be used as a topping but is not necessary.
This was delicious! I was a little unsure about using fresh garlic and ginger instead of powdered, but it turned out beautifully. We used a grilled medley of summer vegetables to accompany the chicken and brown rice, and it was amazing! Thank you for sharing such a delightfully delicious new way to cook up chicken!
Sorry but this is not tandoori chicken. I don’t get why you’d use that name when the tandoori chicken is nothing like that dish.
Can I just check that if you mean “Tomato Sauce” as in Ketchup or are you meaning something more like passata? In New Zealand “tomato sauce” is something we eat on sausages and hot chips. Thanks
Hi. Here is an example: http://www.muirglen.com/product/organic-tomato-sauce-8oz/.
Wow this is such a creative recipe! Beautiful pictures by the way! :)
This recipe is great! I love how easy and fast it is. I added green beans, carrots and cabbage when I covered the pot, and it turned out great!
Made this tonight with chicken breasts and it was awesome! Easy and pleased the hubby even though he doesn’t like coconut or cilantro! Will definitely make again. Note: also subbed sour cream since I had it on hand.
Made this last night and everyone except the ultra picky 3 year old loved it. Thanks for the great recipe! I had a lot of sauce left in the pot after the chicken was devoured, so I used it to make dinner tonight: added chicken stock, and random things I found in the fridge – tofu, leeks, bok choy. Also added noodles to increase chances of consumption by kids. Fewer little people ate it, but my husband and I loved it.
Quick, easy, inexpensive, and delicious! Husband and 2 year old loved it too. Thanks!
Has anyone tried doing this in the crockpot?
We have not. Let us know if you give it a try.
I finally got around to making this last night – so yummy and easy! I did make just a few changes (and a few notes for the next time.) I added a 1/2 tsp of garam masala spice, used chicken breasts (cut in 1/2 to make cutlets), and served over bismati rice. next time, I think I’ll cut down on the red pepper. And mix the coconut milk and tomato sauce before adding it to the chicken. I might also cut the chicken into bite sized pieces first, toss in the spice mix, and brown in the skillet. Two of three kids said the recipe was a keeper!
Does this recipe freeze well?
It should freeze fine.
I found that I had to double the spice mixture in order to thoroughly coat 5 chicken thighs for my family. Other than that, this recipe is delicious.
Absolutely delicious! It was a very different taste for my family- we tend toward Mexican or Italian, and I was a little concerned that they wouldn’t like it but everyone raved about the flavor! The only thing I did differently was use chicken breast instead of thigh. I’m definitely putting this into my rotation!
Hi! Would I be able to bake this instead? If so, what temperature and time frame would you recommend? Thanks! :)
Hi there. We’ve not tried baking this. Let us know if you experiment.
This is now a regular part of our meal planning. It’s just tastes too good for how easy it is! Last time I made it, my husband asked if we could just make the sauce and pour it on everything we ate for the week.
What a great easy recipe Lisa!! You just helped me answer my ongoing question, what`s for dinner!! Thanks for all the fantastic ideas!!
Need to make these immediately! My mouth is watering!
Greets,
made this last night for my family….it was so good!!! They all thought it was so delicious!!! Thank you!
oh, my god. this is so good. easy to make too. wow.
I made this tonight and it was so easy and delicious! Even my picky teenager said this recipe is a keeper
I made this last night. It was so easy and very yummy!!
Thank you.
I forgot to give it 5 stars!
Our entire family of 8 enjoyed this very much. It is very good with the spinach, yogurt and cilantro that is recommended. I had to double the spice mixture to have enough for all of the chicken. We will definitely have this again.
This was really yummy! We made it as the recipe stated other than we subbed sour cream for the yogurt because we were out. We topped it with cilantro. It was easy and my husband said it’s definitely a “do again”! Thanks so much for your awesome, easy, and healthy recipes!
So good! I mistakenly put the entire 15 oz can of tomato sauce in, but it still tasted awesome. I am super weird about chicken, and really don’t like thighs, so I made this with breasts instead and it was great. Next time, I might make it with more like 2 pounds of chicken since we ate almost every bite!
OMG made this tonight and it was sooooo easy and sooooo good! I cut the chicken up into cubes to make it easier to dish up/eat (and it seemed to go further too). This one is a keeper for me.
This looks amazing!! Can’t wait to try it!!
This looks delicious! I’ve been wanting to try more Indian food, and this looks like a good place to start. Thank you!
That looks yummy! I’m always looking for easy chicken dishes. I bet this would also be awesome with chickpeas or even tempeh for vegetarians.
Do you provide nutritional information for these recipes?
Hi there. We do not provide nutrition details. Our focus is on cutting out processed food and replacing it with more healthier wholesome real foods. This post gives more details: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe, my family and i recently returned from India and we completely fell in love with the food!
Can this be made in a slow cooker?
Hi Dana. We’ve not tried that. If you do give it a try let us know how it goes.
I made this in the slow cooker today. Worked beautifully! I cooked it on high for 5 hours. Definitely a keeper! Everyone gobbled it right up.
how did you do it in the slow cooker? just the chicken with spices and then add the other stuff later? did you brown the chicken first?
I made the spice mixture and put it over the chicken. Then I mixed thr sauce and poured it over the chicken. That’s it!
I searched and finally found a coconut milk that I am satisfied with. It’s Natural Value (of course Organic). Comes in a BPA free can. And is only coconut and water. I buy it by the case, as we use a lot. Now I don’t have to use all the other brands with additives. Love it!
What brand coconut milk did u use?. It’s hard to find a version that doesn’t contain a thickening agent like guar gum or care bean.
I buy the trader joe’s brand. Coconut milk and water is all that’s in it!
nice! I haven’t looked at it while at trader joes…will get it next time I go. Thank you. (wish it was just organic too! lol)
I used our store brand – organic!
Oh my goodness…. this all looks incredible!
I cant wait to try all of these recipes!
I’m curious though: what was the second dressing for the salad Shawn made?
Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Jamie, I used this as a base: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/07/03/recipe-simple-mustard-vinaigrette/….I did dijon mustard in place of yellow mustard and fresh squeezed lemon in place of the vinegar.