Truth be told, I spent most of my life avoiding Indian food. I thought that all Indian food was spicy, curry laden food. Boy was I wrong! A few years ago, my friend Raj invited a number of his college friends to his parent’s home for an Indian feast. It was all homemade by his mother and delectable. I often forget how much I love Indian food until I see it on someone’s blog or an inspired by the smell as I run through the Curry Hill district, between Gramercy and Murray Hill.

Last week I asked Bo if we could make a healthy Indian recipe Monday night for dinner since we both had the day off. He eagerly agreed and also suggested that we go for Tikka Masala instead of Tandoori since we have that more often. Without thinking, I agreed and started searching the web for recipes. To make my search even more complex, I knew that I wanted to use our slow cooker instead of standing over the stove all afternoon. There is great debate both within our family and group of friends about whether a slow cooker can truly make a delicious meal. Some people argue that it doesn’t reach high enough temperatures, while Bo believes that some steps need to be done in advance if you want the carmelization factor or to truly bring out spices.

I finally found this Real Simple recipe online and thought it would serve as a good base for our adaptation.

As we reviewed the recipe, a few things stood out which we knew we wanted to alter.

• They don’t cut the chicken thighs into pieces before putting in the crock pot. We believed that it would be more authentic if they were cut and also allow for more even cooking.
• The heavy cream could easily be replaced with some skim milk and 2% Chobani yogurt to reduce the fat and calories.
• The 2 teaspoons of spice mixture barely seemed enough for the large amount of food. Therefore, we chose to double it and then ended up tripling it as we tasted the evolving dish.
• While the recipe called for Basmati rice, we substituted brown Basmati rice in it’s place. This allowed us to have some extra fiber while still enjoying the Basmati texture and flavor.

The best part of this dish, other than the flavor, was the small amount of preparation time it required. I literally did the prep in 15 minutes before heading out to the gym Monday morning. Real Simple also gave great instructions on making your own garam masala (½ teaspoon cumin, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon coriander, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg, and a pinch of cayenne).  if you didn’t have any in the pantry. Luckily, I had all the ingredients in the pantry to make my own which saved money!

Eight hours later and a few spice adjustments later, we had a delicious dinner ready and waiting for us. Using the slow cooker allowed us time to run errands, workout, and watch a movie on the couch during our day off instead of sweating in the kitchen.

Healthy Tikka Masala

Serves 4

Prep Time: 15m

Cook time: 8hr

Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 6 teaspoons garam masala (Indian spice blend)
• 1 extra teaspoon cumin
• 1 extra teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 extra teaspoon cinnamon
• a few heavy dashes kosher salt (1 1/2 teaspoon) and black pepper (1 teaspoon)
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
• 1/2 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup brown basmati rice
• 1/2 cup Chobani 2% yogurt
• 1/8 cup skim milk

Directions

1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, tomato paste, garam masala, extra cumin, coriander, and cinnamon, 1 1/2  teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, cover, and cook until the chicken is tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours (this will shorten total recipe time).
2. In a small bowl, toss the cucumber and cilantro with the lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
3. Twenty minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.
4. Just before serving, stir the yogurt and milk into the chicken tikka masala. Serve over the rice with the cucumber relish.

This reminded us that the next time we’re craving something, take a few minutes to search the web for a few recipes and some inspiration before ordering in.

Also, as promised, I’ve been tracking my food on Weight Watchers every day. I’ll try to get better with sharing each day with you. Below is today’s food which also happened to be the exact same as yesterday’s. See, I said I’m a creature of habit!

In addition, the winner for the Gaiam 3 month subscription is Lauren from Fun, Fit, and Fabulous! Please email me your contact information.