A large, warming bowl of goodness. Super flavourful roasted sweet potatoes with juicy chicken, all tossed in a creamy sauce full of Indian spices. Take the Indian Classic and make it healthy and super delicious! Family friendly, vegan option, easy to make, perfect comfort food.
I love these Sundays, where you just relax all day long and when it comes to dinner, the whole family goes into the kitchen and cooks together. Something cozy, something comforting to round up the week. Something that warms you from the inside and makes your soul feel warmed. These are my favourite kind of dinners. And this Tikka Masala definitely is the ideal meal for such occasions!
What’s tikka masala?
Tikka Masala is a dish from in the Indian cuisine. Actually, it has been invented in Scotland by an Indian Chef. He originally made it with chicken, cream, yoghurt and spices. It also is called „Butter Chicken“ sometimes and nowadays is one of the most popular Indian Recipes around the world.
What’s special about this dish?
We are taking a regular curry and taking it next level while making it healthy! Instead of cream and butter we go for coconut milk, since this is a healthier and lighter version. Also, we don’t only do chicken, no, we add some sweet potatoes for even more flavour & vitamins. Plus, we are roasting, both the chicken and the sweet potato beforehand to bring out the flavour even more.
Is it healthy?
I would not see a reason why not. It is a completely balanced meal. Due to the chicken (that you could sub for chickpeas for example) we make sure to get enough protein in! The sweet potatoes are a great source of carbohydrates, fibre and they also are loaded with nutrients and vitamins. The greek yoghurt and coconut milk add a healthy amount of fat and even more protein.
Not to forget about all of the good Indian spices. Spices, when consumed in moderation, can have tremendous health benefits ranging from improving your digestion to preventing cancer. Crazy what these little powders can do right? When served with some rice or naan you get even more energy from the carbohydrates! So all in all, definitely a very balanced and nutritious meal!
How to make it:
We start by tossing the chopped sweet potato and chicken with some oil and spices before roasting them. As already mentioned, roasting them really brings out the flavour and it shortens the cooking time after. In the meantime we are preparing the curry paste which we need for the sauce. For this you need a food processor or a blender of some kind. To make this paste you need to blend together some onion, garlic, ginger and more spices and fry that off in oil so it gets fragrant. Once your whole kitchen smells like an Indian market, you need to add the sweet potato and chicken and also the coconut milk. Now we just let it simmer and intensify its flavour. Before serving, we stir in some greek yoghurt for extra creaminess and richness. Now it is time to garnish it with some greens, cashews and serve with rice or naan!
When and how to best have it?
Up to you! I love it as a cozy dinner but it also works great for meal prep. Actually, all curries work very well for meal prep because they only enhance their flavour the longer they are in the fridge. You can make this beforehand and just heat it up whenever you feel like it.
In terms of what to best serve it with, you could go for rice or naan or both (my favourite :)). But also something like quinoa, wholegrain rice or buckwheat would work great!
Substitutes/ vegan option:
- Sweet Potatoes – pumpkin, cauliflower
- chicken – chickpeas, tofu
- greek yoghurt – regular yoghurt, plant based yoghurt
I hope that you will genuinely enjoy this as much as I do because I am really obsessed with this, especially on the colder days! Have fun cooking this and enjoy eating it!
Super Comforting Roasted Sweet Potato and Chicken Tikka Masala
Heavenly comfort food in a bowl. Indian spices in a creamy sauce with perfectly roasted and juicy chicken and sweet potato
What you will need
For the sweet potato & chicken
- 1 tbsp Graham Masala
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp oil
- 600 g Sweet Potato (1 large one)
- 600 g chicken breast
For the rest:
- 1 large yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 1,5 tsp graham masala
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chili flakes (optional)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 400 ml canned tomatoes (puréed)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 100 g greek yoghurt
- rice, naan to serve with
- cilantro and cashews to garnish
How to
First:
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Chop up the sweet potato into about 1 cm sized cubes. Cut the chicken (if using) into bite sized pieces. Combine the spices with the oil. Toss the sweet potato and chicken with the oil-pize mixture and lay out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 180°C for 10 minutes.
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In the meantime blend the onion, garlic, ginger and remaining spices together until it has become a smooth paste. When the roasting is done, heat up theremaining oil in a pot and fry the curry paste in it for about 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes, chicken, canned tomatoes and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes on medium-low heat.
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Before serving stir in the greek yoghurt. Then divide onto bowls and serve with some rice or naan. Garnish with fresh cilantro and cashews. Enjoy!
Love,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière
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