Meal Bite: Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala

Hi Busies!

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend!  I had planned a nice quiet weekend of movie watching and starting Round 2 of meal prepping (check out Round 1 here), but it ended up being a crazy and fun filled weekend!  From girl’s night out, to a DIY project, to a walk in the park, to a housewarming visit, to a day of lazy river tubing, to hosting a BBQ, I ended up with only Monday to meal prep.  And a large portion of Monday was spent recovering from the weekend…because spending 4 hours floating down a river is (believe it or not) more tiring than it sounds – but also amazingly fun!

Enter Monday night’s dinner, which is one of my favorites – Chicken Tikka Masala.  My love affair with Indian food began in London, and has continued in Raleigh and NYC.  Although I’m still a bit of a wimp when it comes to spice (heat) level, I love the unique flavors that are so different from other things I’ve tried or made.  And there is NOTHING better than sopping up the sauce with a piece of warm, fresh naan.  Especially if it comes at the end of a long weekend.  Eat those Tuesday blues away, Busies.  

My homemade version is somewhat “health-ified.”  I use brown rice instead of white and sub in a combination of fat-free coconut milk and cornstarch for heavy cream.  I’ve also tried using full-fat coconut milk, but didn’t notice enough of a difference in taste to make it worth the extra saturated fat.    Like some of my other slow cooker dishes, like chicken carnitas tacos, I like to add part of the spices at the beginning, and also give a little spice boost at the end of cooking (see note at the end of the recipe).  

Q:  Did I eat double the amount of naan pictured?  A:  maaayyybeeee….

Busies, what is your favorite Indian dish?  What did you do over LDW?  Let me know in the comments below!  And tag me at @busygirl_bites or #busygirlbites on Instagram to show me your cooking results!