Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

Terrible, bland, does not come close to the real thing from a proper Indian restaurant. Surprisingly bad.

I doubled the recipe since I have a large slow cooker. I thought the sauce was delicious, but it was VERY spicy. If you are sensitive to spices, maybe cut back a little. I thought the cooking time was too long since the thighs fell apart - I was picturing a single thigh per plate, but since it was falling off the bone, I will have to comb through the leftovers to pull together the remaining portions. I served it with Spicy Puppodums to scoop us the sauce, which really added some crunch and fun to the presentation. If you like spicy Indian-style food, this recipe is for you! 

I am a huge tikka masala fan and was so excited to try this recipe so I could stop paying through the nose for it at restaurants. Sadly, this recipe didn't yield anything good enough to rival a legit Indian restaurant quality tikka masala, so the search continues. With some modifications, it's possible this recipe could get there eventually.

Things I diverged from the recipe on:

-accidentally got whole tomatoes instead of diced. I just diced them myself.

-due to a gluten sensitivity, I substituted corn starch in the proper proportions ( .5 corn starch = 1 wheat flour)

-cut down on the red pepper

-used 3 chicken breasts cubed instead of bone-in thighs. I've always had white breast meat in tikka masala and don't like to hassle with bones while eating. Still had plenty of sauce for all the chicken.

-cut cook time in half and chicken still ended up a bit more cooked than needed

Things that didn't live up to tikka masala expectations:

- very thin and watery sauce, even after 15 minutes on high uncovered. It just seeps into rice like water rather than rest on top of it like a thick sauce should. I added a few scoops of plain Greek yogurt to help thicken and cream it up. Would probably try using cream instead of coconut milk or something next time to see if that helped.

- whole tomato and onion chunks still present in end result. Usually tikka masala I've had before is creamy with a more even consistency through out. Next time I'd try blending the sauce before putting it in with the chicken.

- lacked the mild sweetness and saltiness I'm used to in tikka masala. Basic spices and flavors were there but it was missing those extra layers of flavor that give it depth

In a nutshell, it's decent and the basic flavor is there but it feels incomplete with respect to texture, consistency, and sweet/saltiness.

I have never had chicken Tikka masala, so I can't say how authentic this is.  But it tasted great.  Very mildly spicy.  Used 6 thighs and had plenty of yummy sauce.  7 hours was perfect.  Served over the rice with a side of roasted green beans and naan.  Will definitely make again.

Terrible. I was really hoping this would be delicious, but it was not. The chicken had no flavor, very bland. I followed the directions very carefully, and even added extra garam masala and curry powder....it still wasn't enough. Very disappointing.

Full review with pictures can be found here: http://www.nickandalonakitchen.com/2017/04/slow-cooker-chicken-tikka-with-basmati.htmlThe recipe was great and would definitely make it again! So much flavor! 

it is in step 1. right after curry powder and salt

Add flour mixture, garam masala, paprika, curry powder, salt, and PEPPER to pan;

it just says to add salt and pepper, which is the red pepper. :) 

It is added with the other spices - it says add "curry powder and pepper". The pepper is the red.

This stew has great flavor.  I used half of the red pepper and it was plenty spicy, especially because the garam masala that I use is already fairly spicy.  I like that there is a lot of sauce as it is very flavorful.  The slow cooker really blends and highlights the spices in a remarkable way.  I used 1 pound of boneless chicken thighs and they worked very well because the meat falls apart nicely and I don't love picking bones out of my stew anyway.

Where in the instructions does it say to use the red pepper? I see it in the ingredient list but no where in the instructions does it say to add it.

I'm usually skeptical of CL's Indian recipes since they tend to be somewhat bland, which is something one should rarely say about good Indian food.  However, this dish was really very good.  Admittedly, it doesn't really taste like Tikka Masala, but it does taste like a very good curry.  I did use a homemade curry powder and garama masala blends (both taken from a Madhur Jaffrey book) which probably kicked it up a notch.  As other have pointed out, the cooking time is a bit long.  After eight hours the chicken was off the bone and falling apart into the sauce.  That's not exactly a bad thing, but if you wanted to have firmer pieces of chicken, you might want to check this at 6-7 hours.  This is one I'll be making again.

This is one of my favorite cooking light recipes I've ever made! I followed the recipe exactly, except I added more red pepper since my hubby and I like spicy food. I couldn't find bone-in chicken thighs, so I used boneless. The thighs shredded apart in the sauce. I would have preferred some bigger chicken chunks but the chicken was so tender and the sauce so flavorful that we didn't care! Happy to have such an easy, healthy, and delicious meal in my "forever recipes" folder!

With some modifications I will make this again.  Used a family package of chicken tights without bones (about 10 pieces) and there was still plenty of sauce.  Also added two red peppers.  Cooked on stove top, only took 20mins. once the sauce comes to a boil.  Full fat coconut milk is the way to go, light milk has no taste.

This is delicious.  Followed the recipe, though I did brown the chicken thighs as well as the veggies.  Makes lots of yummy sauce.

Great winter recipe. Only change I made was reducing the red pepper to 1/4 teaspoon. Recipe is a keeper.

First, this was exceptional - I was very pleased with this meal! I, too, used chicken breasts instead of thighs, and I, too, found that there was a LOT of sauce, but I didn't mind lapping it up as though it was a soup. I could have reduced the time by half (my slow cooker always seems to have things done in half the time), and next time I will reduce the coconut milk by half. I really liked the flavors without the milk (it was better with the coconut milk, of course, but I really enjoyed it without it too, so I figure I will split the difference). I also reduced the red pepper by half as my better half prefers milder spices, but I found that 1/4 t was enough kick for me (for context, I put sriracha on everything with no issues, but stay away from things like ghost peppers). 

My husband, who loves Indian, thought this was as good as our local restaurant. I only made one change. I used fire roasted (full sodium) diced tomatoes and because of time constraints, I did about 4 hrs on low, 1.5 on high before adding the coconut milk. I find with most slow cooker recipes you can adjust time to personal preference. There was a lot if sauce but that was OK. More for rice and naan.

Wonderful winter supper! 1/4 tsp red pepper provided enough kick! I would consider adding two more chicken thighs as there was a generous amount of sauce. Served warm garlic Naan bread alongside and with a glass of Riesling, we felt as though we were dining in a fine restaurant!

This was delicious.  A bit more work than usual to get the ingredients ready for the slow cooker but well worth it.  I found this plenty spicy with 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper.   I will definitely be making this again! 

This is a few steps above a dump and cook slow cooker recipe. And the taste and texture is better for it. The tomato sauce is quite thick before it goes on top of the chicken. But then the chicken juices add to it, then the coconut milk, and it's just right. I substituted 1 can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes for flavor since we left out the ground red pepper. I also discovered at the last second that I did not have any coconut milk. Used a can of 2% evaporated milk, 1 tsp cornstarch, and a splash of coconut extract. Still turned out great. I also doubled the amount of chicken thighs but not the sauce. Still plenty of sauce. I would have found it too much sauce without the extra chicken. I also adjusted the cooking time to my slow cooker. 7 hours would have been too much.

Love this new recipe in January 2016 Cooking Light!  My husband and I love tikka masala, and this recipe does not disappoint.  The only substitution I made was using two chicken breasts instead of the chicken thighs.  Wonderful!