Indian Food Wednesday!
Chicken tikka masala, it’s been way too long.
Tuesday night, while setting out the ingredients for Wednesday’s slow cooker destiny, I thought to myself, “This could totally become a regular thing again!”
And then I started making everything and very quickly changed my mind.
Anyone else get a little intimidated to see more than 15 ingredients and a very long prep process?
At the same time, it actually felt very luxurious to take my time and actually cook. Meals have been so fast and furious lately -10 minutes or less to prep is the standard- it was almost a form of meditation to measure components, grind cardamom, peel and grate fresh ginger.The Pilot was watching TV, Liv and the pups were fast asleep, and it was just me, some chicken and a whole heck of a lot of spices.
I prepped the marinade:
then made the masala.
I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to boil gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, but I haven’t really been in a raw tomato mood. They gave the masala lovely bursts of soft green.
(I was especially excited to use these cute little chiles)
Both the marinated chicken and masala were stored separately in the fridge to put in the slow cooker during Wednesday’s lunch break:
The chicken tikka masala came out really well, but sadly, not exactly like my favorite Indian restaurant’s. I think Indian food is like so many ethnic cuisines; you have to really know the spices, put the measuring spoons down and go by how you feel. When I cook, I rarely measure unless I’m baking, and the best dishes are the ones that were improvised as I went along. For Indian food, I’m not 100% comfortable just throwing the necessary spices into a dish. Practice makes better though, right?
To my happy surprise, the tiny two Thai chiles were just enough to push this dish into burn-your-face-off territory, so I’m even more excited for leftovers tomorrow.
What’s on the menu for dinner tonight? Are you eating like a PRO today?
I’m off to teach buff booty! Enjoy your almost-Friday.
xoxo
Gina
Just for kicks: The dogs after their grooming appointment. Caro did great, they both smell lovely… and have a little bit of the “pea in a pod” syndrome going on.
Sisters <3
NEW on the Fashion page: Love yourself! A fantastic reminder for the month of love.
Winter Shape Up: Check-in via the comments section to let me know how the Stairmaster workout went! Anyone else sore from yesterday’s plankstravaganza??
Congrats to the Physique 57 giveaway winner:
Debbie, who said:
Send me an email (fitnessista at gmail dot com) and I’ll send your info along to the P57 fairy! Stay tuned for more WSU giveaways… maybe a sneaky giveaway again soon 😉
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Still a day behind so I did WSU Workout #2 this morning with 12 min HIIT (instead of hills – didn’t have any hills available:) ). Loved it! I didn’t think it was going to be as hard as #1 but my chest and back are sore already.
Did you put heavy cream into the recipe? Because that is what will give you the flavor like you get at restaurants.
Aww the pups look pretty precious together.
Maybe this wouldn’t work for recipes were you aren’t exactly sure of spice amounts but I’ve found when I have a recipe that I love that uses TONS of spices and/or other dry ingredients that I’ll make the recipe and also measure another recipe’s worth and store in a ziplock baggie. That way it really cuts the prep time the next time I make it!
Mmm- I love chicken masala! Great choice 🙂
I’m so impressed with people who can just throw spices into a meal and have it worked out- I’m definitely in the camp of measuring things out.
I thought that the plank ab burner was for Saturday? haven’t done it yet, but I am excited to feel the burn!
I swear, my favorite way to make Indian food is also the absolute easiest: meat + veggies + coconut milk from a can + curry powder. That’s it! Oh, and a little coconut oil to cook the meat and veggies in. So good!
The stairmaster workout was so hard but I pushed through and made it! Yes the abs are on fire today. All my muscles are. Def still eating like a PRO and tweeting you some pics. Hope your getting them. 🙂
Tonight we are having your healthified fried rice with chicken and egg. Yum! Can’t wait.
Is that a stapler on the cutting board? What is it for?
I did Workout #2 plus hills this morning. Will definitely be feeling the burn later! Whew!
I don’t have access to a stairmaster, so I did the Hills workout again. 🙂
DARN! I have been checking in in the wrong place. I thought we were always supposed to check in on the intro page. Whomp whomp. Anyways, I did the stairmaster workout via the elliptical today. My heart was beating and my legs were burning. That’s for sure! 🙂
I got the same black w/ tan top you have on in the picture in my stichfix last week. Love it!
This is a little lazy but I LOVE Jamie Oliver’s curry recipes. In particular the Chicken Vindaloo (vinegar and garlic and chillies, it’s just like heaven)– he uses Patak’s curry pastes and they lend such a rich depth of flavour — they’re definitely the best on the market IMO.
His recipes are in his book “Food Revolution” and they’re the closest to Indian restaurant style curry as I’ve ever come.
that sheer black top is so so cute on you!!
I didn’t do the plank workout because I thought it was for Saturday? I’ll try and squeeze it in with the stair master workout today.
That sounds heavenly. Nice and warming. I should try making that next week. My mom and I love Indian food, while my dad tolerates it. LOL
Those chili peppers are adorable. But eating them plain would show they’re not that innocent! 😀
I would love to see some buff booty moves! Think you can show us a few?
I looooved the stairmaster workout! Did it x2 (still burning off those superbowl calories) and my legs were niceeee and shaky when it was over.
Stairmaster workout kicked my butt this morning! Dinner tonight: Chicken Caprese Salad!
I did the Stairmaster workout this morning. I haven’t used it for cardio in quite some time and forgot how challenging it can be. Thanks for another great workout.
I accidentally did the stairmaster workout yesterday (with workout 2), so I’ll be getting my hills workout in today! I felt really good during the workouts yesterday: I love going to the gym with a purpose and a routine!
Yum! I need to try to make indian food. I love it but I have always been too intimidated by the long ingredient lists.
That recipe looks delish. I just looked at the recipe, did you sub anything for the cream?
nope, i made the recipe exactly as directed. there was no way i was going to potentially mess up the final result of such a long process:)
Today was workout#2 for me. Killerrrr! I’ll be hitting the stairs tomorrow!
This post is straight from my heart! Indian food is my favirite cuisine But it’s long ingredient list can be intimidating. Luckily much of it freezes well!
I have a new found love for Indian food, it is so good! By the time Thursday rolls around, I am eating quick and easy frozen stuff and the last of my fresh produce. No Bull Burgers from my freezer will surely be part of my dinner!
I like your polka dot shirt!
I totally know what you mean about some foods that you’re unfamiliar with being hard to make at home. I would LOVE to be able to master a few thai dishes I love.
Love the pic of the pups at the end! I have a question for you, we are thinking about getting a new pup and I am curious about energy levels, do you find that the pups are more sleepy because they have eachother to play with? I’ve only ever had one pup at a time 🙂
Ah! Chicken tikka is actually charbroiled chicken. The masala is the gravy part. To get the restaurant flavor you will have to marinate the chicken, then grill it, and then mix with the masala. The extra step is what takes it to the next level, and the best part is you can marinate and grill/barbecue the chicken on skewers in a big batch and store portions to serve with fresh masala a few times.
blahhhhh. that’s what it was! i kept eating and trying to figure out what the heck it was missing
Hehe. I am Pakistani and if I want Pakistani/Indian food, I just go to a restaurant. Or my mother in law’s 😉
amazing. that’s what i’ll be doing from now on too (the restaurant part, not the mil’s) 🙂
I’ve been juggling the workouts around and did the speed surges today. Soo good! I haven’t run for that long without a break in a long time, so it was a great endurance challenge.
Sore, so very sore. This morning I ate an egg and a little leftover stew, lunch will be a giant salad with chicken and for din we are having Asian style meatballs with cauliflower rice from nom nom paleo
asian style meatballs?! yum!
I made a curry soup last night with tons of veggies, coconut milk, and chicken… it was so tasty and it had just the right amount of burn! I’ve made 2 soups from scratch in the past week and before them I had never made one at all! I’m on a roll 🙂
I’m STILL sore from my intense abs & arms workout on Monday. I’m hitting up a yoga class tonight and I’m looking foward to getting in a great stretching sesh!
Cute top!
thank you!
Holy HECK your hair is thick!!! Jealous. 🙁
it is outta control haha
I always have a harder time doing ethnic food, but when it finally works out, it’s awesome! I’m having apple cider pork with sauteed apples and brown rice for dinner. yeah!
Loved the workout yesterday! I am actually surprised that I’m not sore today since I did the plank video plus other plank work. Hmm… maybe I need to push harder! Loved it! Thanks!
I admit, I will totally pass on a recipe if it has too many ingredients and too many steps!
I did the plank work out today…I will feel it tomorrow!
Finished the stair master workout plus the plank ab burner and few extra ab exercises this morning! My legs and booty are feeling it! I had trouble with the side plank combo (especially on my left side for some reason) so I modified it and did it on my forearms.
You have a picture of ground ginger in a jar. I don’t see any peeling and grating of fresh ginger. To make good Indian food, you need more than spices and chicken. Right off the bat, you need heavy cream for the sauce. Sorry, but that’s what Indian places use to make it so good.
i actually did use fresh ginger. i took that pic when i was taking out spices that i’d “probably” need to use from the depths of the pantry, but didn’t use all of them.
and yes, i used heavy cream too.
Hey! I’m a loyal blog reader and this doesn’t relate to this blog post but I need help! I’m a new mom to a 5 month old girl and am having a hard time figuring out what to buy whenever its time for the next “baby thing”. I would love to see you do a blog post on high chairs, etc. I’m currently looking for a high chair and so confused by all the options (to recline or not to recline? t bar connected to the chair or the tray, etc, etc) and thought you might have advice! As soon as I figure out one purchase, the next one comes and confuses me even more. Help! 🙂 And yay for Indian food. 🙂
i wish i had some awesome tips for you, but it was overwhelming to me, too. i just researched a ton and ended up buying what friends had, or what had good ratings on amazon. for the high chair, we went with the oxo sprout and love it- easy to clean and you can remove it with one hand (critical)
xoxo
I am a day ahead because I didnt take Tuesday off. Plank Combo = killer!!!
LOVE the cute picture of the pups! They look clean. 😉 I’m glad to hear Caroline did ok- we have almost always had rescues, a couple of them have acted just traumatized when we dropped them off… it’s always nice to be greeted by an overjoyed dog who missed you like crazy! 🙂
The Indian food looks AMAZING- I know exactly what you mean about having a hard time making favorite/restaurant dishes. There are a couple of dishes I had in China I would desperately love to recreate perfectly. Still, looks fantastic!! (The chilis look like they had some heat to them!)
I totally had Indian food Wednesday too! It was cooked by the pros though. Eggplant bartha, chicken tikka, tandoori fish….yummmm. Doing the hills workout as we speak, then workout 2 + swim (tri training) after work! It’ll be a rest day tomorrow!
I have a friend that is Indian, and she told me that every Indian family uses their own special blend of spices in their cooking. Much like Italian families have a family recipe for their own special tomato sauce that they pass down through the generations. So cool!
one of my college roommates was indian and cooked fairly often. at the time, i’d never tried indian food and now am kicking myself from not taking the chance to learn from her
I didn’t do the stairmaster workout because I’m running a 6K this weekend. It’s my first race since I had the baby, and I’m thinking that a stairmaster workout would make me pretty sore! I ran a mile instead. I think I’m going to make the booty burner workout from yesterday a regular thing– I actually really liked that one, and it was challenging without being totally overwhelming. I think I just need to find a treadmill with a steeper incline? The one I was on only went up to 15%.
I accidentally posted this one one of the other pages too! Sorry if you see it twice!
I also didn’t do the plank workout because I thought it was for Saturday. I’ll be getting it in this weekend.
I’m always SO intimidated by recipes with long ingredients and lots of prep time ahh my poor husband! I really need to branch out when it come to spices! Garlic salt pepper onions Amd olive oil go into almost every dish I make haha- just finished the stairmaster blaster and my booty is on fire! Thanks Gina 🙂
Done with Workout 2 (I had to switch my days around and did my cardio day yesterday)!
The plank workout felt great (after)!!
I can already tell how sore my butt is going to be from the stairmaster workout this morning!
i haven’t had indian food in too long!
I plan to do the plank workout this weekend, i’ll let ya know how it goes!
I took a cardio class today, spinning. I tried to turn my resistance up extra to mimic the climbs I would’ve done on the stairmaster. it was killer!