This Chicken & Eggplant Tikka Masala is a healthy dinner with lots of flavor!
I love Indian food, so when I was challenged to pair a dish with Gallo's Hearty Burgundy, I figured I would give the two a date together. I found a recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala in the new Cooking Light Global Kitchen Cookbook, and had most of what was needed on hand. Since I had a rather small package of chicken thighs, I added eggplant to the dish. I also went with less garlic, boosting the quantity of onion instead (which was changed to sweet onion, since that is what I generally have). The thighs where kept whole rather than sliced and I used canned tomatoes rather than fresh, but the big thing with Indian food is the spice blends. Those I pretty much kept intact.
The Chicken & Eggplant Tikka Marsala came out great and teamed up well with the wine. For those seeking a more vegetarian minded dish try my Paneer Tikka Masala Recipe.
If you like this you may also be interested in my Instant Pot Chicken Curry or Grilled Eggplant Parmesan.
Ingredients
- 2 large garlic cloves coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ cup goat's milk or Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs
- 4 Japanese Eggplants or other mini eggplant variety
- ½ tbs olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- large can of crushed tomatoes 29 oz
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 cup chopped sweet onion
- 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ⅛ teaspoon ground red pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ cup goat's milk or Greek yogurt
- 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Combine garlic and ginger on a cutting board. Sprinkle with salt, and mash to a paste by dragging and pressing broad side of knife over mixture several times. Combine garlic mixture, yogurt, and next 5 ingredients (through ground red pepper) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken; seal and marinate in refrigerator 8 to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.
- Cut off stems of eggplants. Cut each in half horizontally, and cut off just a strip of the skin on other side, leave the rest intact. Baste with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Allow to rest 15-30 minutes.
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until browned. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add coriander, paprika, turmeric, and ground red pepper; cook 1 minute. Stir in crushed tomatoes, and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes or until thick.
- Preheat grill or broiler.
- While masala sauce simmers, remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Place chicken on grill & cook 5 minutes. Turn; cook 5 minutes or until browned on all sides but still undercooked in center (chicken will finish cooking in sauce). Grill eggplant as well, it will take less time, so keep an eye on it.
- Add the chicken & eggplant to masala sauce. Stir in salt and garam masala; cover and simmer another 20 minutes minutes or until chicken is done. Remove from heat; stir in yogurt and cilantro. Serve over rice.
Raijean says
Geez, that looks amazing!
Ty says
Absolutely no words to describe how insanely delicious this chicken & eggplant tikka masala look. Oh my!
Donna says
The only vegetable that I rarely ever cook with and/or eat is eggplant. I need to give this a try, it looks amazing!
Kayla G says
I am going to make this next weekend. My boyfriend loves Indian food. I need to pick up some spices though.
Kirsten says
Robin,
Thanks for this recipe! I've added it to the Farm Fresh Feasts Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me who love to eat from the farm share.
I appreciate your help in making this index better!
Penni says
Can't wait to try this mouth-watering recipe! Love those Indian spices!
Lauren says
I made this as a vego curry with double eggplant and treated it like the chicken; I marinated it for a day and grilled it until brown. Will definitely be making it again. Delicious!
Robin Gagnon says
I am so glad you liked the recipe. I have made Tikka Marsala with sliced portobello mushrooms too, so that may be something to toss in next time 🙂
Roader says
This is good. The only change I made was to use split breasts instead of thighs and added about a teaspoon of ground kalonji seeds (Nigella sativa) in with the coriander and other dry spices.
I didn't have Japanese or Indian eggplant so I just used the big black ones. No salting needed. I ate a piece by itself after they were grilled and it was really good; sweet, not bitter at all.
C. Randolph says
Oh, Man! This was DELICIOUS! The pandemic has brought me to an appt woof I Dian and Indian inspired dishes. THIS IS A KEEPER!! Thanks for sharing!