Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is a South Asian dish based on Indian-style roast chicken chunks (chicken tikka) in a tomato, curry sauce. The cross-cultural popularity of the dish in the United Kingdom led former Labour foreign secretary Robin Cook to proclaim it as "Britain's true national dish".[1] Indian dishes such as Murgh Makhani or Butter Chicken are similar in preparation and taste to Chicken tikka masala. In Pakistan, it is also known as Chicken Masala[2] or Tandoori Chicken Masala.
-- Wikipedia

That says it all. The curry sauce/gravy recipe is not etched in stone and so there are several popular versions of chicken tikka masala. Mine is just one simple easy way to serve this delicious dish - well, at least D thinks it is divine - I am primarily vegetarian so I use the masala for vegetable curries a lot...

The neat thing about this recipe for me is that it is the same masala from Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani. Instead of heavy cream, I used some canned evaporated milk for the rich creaminess without all the fat.

Ingredients:
see Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani for the masala paste ingredients
boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks
1- 1½ cup canned evaporated milk
1 can tomato purée or crushed stewed tomatoes
1 Tbsp or so dark brown sugar
salt to taste
cilantro for garnish

1. Prepare the masala and marinate the chicken just as in the Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani recipe, reserving half the masala paste to be used in the gravy/curry sauce
2. Then, pan-sear the marinated chicken pieces in a cast iron skillet and cook the chicken pieces till done but not overdone as they turn rubbery
3. Meanwhile, start the curry sauce - add the reserved masala paste, a cup of canned evaporated milk, tomato purée, brown sugar and allow it to simmer over low heat
4. When chicken is done, add it to the curry sauce and simmer some more, adjust flavors

Serve hot with rice or roti or naan