Good Indian Food for Bad Cooks: The Chicken Tikka Masala Mystery (Part II)

After tasting ready-made Chicken Tikka Masala , I decided to try to cook this dish in a more impressive way: I mean by making some rice and cutting pieces of chicken! So, I didn’t put my apron on because I don’t have any but I found my frying-pan in the bottom of my cupboard and I went to Monop’ to buy the ingredients I needed.

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Patak’s Sauce Tikka Masala

Price: 3,21 euros A jar: 2/3 people

Preparation: About 15 minutes. You just have to cook rice and chop chicken escalopes in a frying-pan. Turn the chicken once or twice, add the sauce and continue the cooking for a few minutes.

                                                  

The Good Points:

It is nicely spicy and finely hot. (2 peppers out of 3 on the label)  The sauce is not sweet. It is tasty and exotic. I can eat it cold with a tea spoon!  Very easy and rapid. As you cook your own rice and chicken, your hubby or friends will have the feeling you really made some efforts to prepare a nice little meal for them.

The Bad Points:

The sauce is delicious but the taste will be always the same. You can’t use it all the time, it may be tiring. Moreover, it slightly tastes of the presevatives, so it is obvious the sauce is not home-made.

Patak’s Sauce

Patak’s Curry Paste Tikka Masala

Price: 3,10 euros A bag for 3 or 4 people

Preparation: (Everything is explained at the back of the pack)

Chop onions and brown them.   Add the paste and mix it to the onions. It looks ugly but don’t be afraid!  Add the pieces of tomatoes. (I didn’t peel them) Pour half a glass of water because it is very sticky and bizarre. Let it simmer. I added the chicken a bit later because I didn’t want it to be too dry. When the chicken seems ok, add the dairy cream and mix. Prepare the rice!

           

The Good Points:

It is really cooking but you don’t need to be a specialist in spicies and masale. The dish is good. It is not very hot but to my mind, it is not a good point so you can add chilli.

The Bad Points:

The result is impressive but the sauce is finally a bit too fat and the taste too strong despite the cream. Next time (if there is a next time) I’ll use more tomatoes and ligher dairy cream.  Don’t forget the rice or it may be sickly!

Mark: 6 /10   (let’s say maybe I need to practise and improve the recipe)

Patak’s Paste