kitchen discoveries

I just want to preface this post with the following: this recipe is in NO WAY meant to be authentic.  In fact, this particular recipe was done with a Japanese "twist."  The original recipe was created by Ochikeron, a Japanese YouTube food blogger.  Check her out by clicking here! Her recipes are fun and often incorporate "cute" elements; she even makes a Totoro bento in one of her videos. If you don't know who Totoro is, look him up! He's so adorable! 

Anyway, I digress. If you decide to recreate this wonderful dish, just be aware that the ingredients are NOT traditional.  However, I think her take on chicken tikka masala is delicious.  Without further adieu, here's the recipe! I made a few adaptations to the recipe for my personal taste and doubled the serving size, so if you wish to see the original recipe by Ochikeron (unaltered), please check out the link at the end of the post!

INGREDIENTS
4 pieces (31.7g) House Vermont Curry Mix (Med. Hot)
1 lb 12 oz chicken breast
1 medium onion, sliced
1 1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
13.5 oz water
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp soy sauce
5.6 oz plain yogurt
4 tbsp ketchup
cooked rice (however much you want to eat!)
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

1.  Chop your chicken breast into bite-sized pieces.  Once chopped, add the plain yogurt and ketchup to the chopped chicken and mix well.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Let the chicken sit in the seasonings until needed.



2.  Heat the butter in a large frying pan over medium. After the butter has melted, add the onions to the hot pan.  Cook the onions until softened and lightly browned.



3.  Once the onions have softened, add the chicken breast to the hot pan.  Make sure to separate the chicken pieces so that each individual bite is cooked evenly! Stir the chicken constantly in the pan and cook this way for about 2 minutes.  Once the chicken has just started to change color (it does not have to be browned!), add in the tomato sauce and water.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes.



4.  After simmering it down for 5 minutes, turn off the heat.  Then, add the curry roux pieces to the pot and mix them in until they are completely melted. It should look thicker and the color should change slightly.



5.  Turn on the heat again after the curry roux is completely mixed in. Simmer for another 3 minutes. Add in the heavy cream and soy sauce and stir thoroughly.  Heat for a few seconds, sprinkle some parsley flakes on top, and serve!





I served mine on top of some Japanese rice! I thought it was really delicious.  It didn't taste like chicken tikka masala (or at least the dishes that I've tasted here in the US), but it was a tasty twist on the dish! If you wanna give this a go, I totally recommend it. Just don't think you will be getting a traditional, authentic recipe.

ORIGINAL RECIPE VIDEO: click here!

I came across this recipe on Pinterest. It looked quite delicious and perfect for a weekday night! There are a few ingredients, and it is quite inexpensive, especially if you get the value pack of chicken legs.  I usually stray away from value packs, BUT the recipe called for a lot of chicken; I didn't feel like spending too much $$$.  To see my take on the recipe, my thoughts, and the cooking process... keep reading! As always, the original recipe will be linked at the bottom of the post.

Ingredient List

2 1/2 lbs chicken legs

1 2/3 tbs olive oil

1/2 cup soy sauce 

1 2/3 tbs ketchup 

3/4 cup honey

2-3 garlic cloves

salt and pepper

I first preheated my oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit).  I always preheat my oven first so that it's alllll ready when my dish is arranged and ready for baking.  Next, I placed my chicken legs in a single layer in a 9x13 baking dish.

Then, I mixed the olive oil, soy sauce, ketchup, and honey in a small bowl.  To make things easier, I usually put a little oil in my measuring cup before measuring out my honey; it's a little trick I learned from Laura Vitale that makes the honey easier to pour out and measure.  Also, I used low-sodium soy sauce & Japanese ketchup.  I find Japanese ketchup to be less overpowering in flavor, so I prefer it over American ketchup.  

Next, I minced the garlic cloves.  I used THREE medium-sized cloves. The more garlic, the better!

After mincing the garlic, I mixed it into the sauce mixture and poured the sauce over the chicken.  I then salt & pepper-ed the chicken and placed the pan in the preheated oven.

I let the chicken cook at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes.  After 35-40 minutes, I took the pan out of the oven and basted the chicken in that gorgeous sauce.  Then, I turned the oven up to 375 and cooked them for a remaining 25 minutes.  After the 25 minutes was up, I took the pan out of the oven and let it rest for about 5 minutes. This is the end result (as shown above):

I found the sauce to be amazingly tasty. HOWEVER, the chicken was not brown enough for me and not at all crispy.  The skin was strangely soft (no crunch), despite being cooked through and baked for so long.  It may turn out better if I turn the heat up higher for the remaining 15-20 minutes of cooking time or if I used chicken wings instead.  I don't recommend using the chicken legs.  Overall, I'm glad I made this dish, but it wasn't my favorite. That sauce though...YUM!

TIP: soak your pan immediately after serving! The honey can make cleanup really difficult if it sticks to the pan and hardens. After soaking the pan overnight, clean-up became a LOT easier. 

For the original recipe, click here! Stay tuned for my next kitchen discovery: CHAI TEA MUFFINS!