First Attempt at Tikka Masala

Are any of you fans of the show Next Food Network Star? I really love it, and I recently caught up on last season thanks to Hulu. My favorite contestant throughout the season was Aarti. She always had amazing food, and she had such a sweet, bubbly personality. She is a food blogger (although she writes about other subjects as well), and her blog is really fun. She is a strong Christian, and is not afraid to write about her faith. I was very excited when she won her own show on Food Network. Her show is called Aarti Party. She makes the most amazing looking dishes, many of which I plan to test in my kitchen.

As I have mentioned before, I absolutely love Indian food, especially Chicken Tikka Masala. I always thought I would love to find a good recipe for it and make it at home. So I was very excited when I found Aarti's recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala. The recipe was not too difficult to make, although there were some ingredients that were a little more difficult to find. For instance, garam masala, which is a spice blend, is not available at all grocery stores. I found it at World Market. The dish was very good, but I may want to tweak it a little more next time to add a little more flavor and spice. I used two serrano peppers, but next time I might use three or leave the seeds in since we like it spicier. Overall, it was good and I will try it again. I served it over rice with naan on the side...yum!


With our leftover naan and leftover zucchini I had, I made these delicious naan pizzas. Place a piece of naan on a pan, drizzle with olive oil, spread marinara sauce over it, and cover with thinly sliced zucchini and mozzarella. Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is nice and bubbly. This was so good, and I made it everyday until I ran out of naan! It makes a great meal served with a salad, or could be a fun appetizer for a party if you sliced it into strips. By the way, if you are wondering where to find naan, you can usually find it at most grocery stores. I found great naan at Trader Joe's here in Albuquerque. They had plain and garlic, both of which were delicious!