Had the share the most wonderful dinner I had!! :cloud9:
 

So I had to write about the great dinner we had and my great cauliflower discovery-this vegetable just keeps giving! Today's dinner was Chicken Tikka Masala and fragrant 'rice'. Since being on IP, I thought I would have to give up all of my 'slightly' calorie laden sauces but I whipped this up without the extra calories, fat or carbs! I used 1 whole rotisserie chicken, removed the skin and cubed the meat. My sauce started with olive oil, a healthy tablespoon of minced garlic and dried fenugreek leaves. I blended garden ripe cherry tomatoes, green bell peppers and 1 chili pepper and poured the puree into garlic infused oil. I added a tablespoon of tomato paste for body and let cook until the raw flavor was gone. I added tandoori masala and my special spice blend and let simmer until thick. Finally, I added splenda and salt to create balance, threw the chicken in and simmered until just incorporated. The cauliflower rice was awesome. I sprayed my skilled with olive oil and added a small pinch of cumin seeds and a few cloves and the cauliflower. I HOPE I have kept under my carb and protein allotment because this meal was fantastic! I think I may have divorced rice all together! :smug:

This sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing.

Oooh... that sounds yummy. :):)

OK you're a way better cook than I but I had the "simplified version" tonight. I had chicken already with Garam Masala spice on it and had to "reheat" it, so I threw it in the pan with the cauliflower rice and some finely chopped asparagus and let it simmer with a wee bit o' chicken broth. Dinner took 4 minutes to cook, and I still had that yummy spice flavour. That is my new fav spice -- just makes blah chicken so good, cold or hot, to add to a salad.
I may try your version next as it sounds like more work, but way yummier!

It sounds more daunting than it looks. I have my own catering business so it comes a bit easier for me. We had jerk chicken yesterday on the bbq and I made the cauliflower rice as a Chinese fried rice. I love how it's so versatile. I wish we had an 'IP restaurant' lol

Thanks so much for posting this! I love Indian food! Tonight I sauteed some ground beef with cauliflower, garlic, and a little zucchini and added curry powder, just to get that flavor.

Last night I used my garam masala powder, I haven't seemed to get the right amount. I think I used too much.

I'll have to buy the tandori masala at an Indian or Mideast store, correct? I don't have that one.

I really miss my Indian food.... I never really cooked it much, although have made (non-IP) sag panner and made the cheese... I guess we could figure out an IP version of that using tofu.

i have made a delicious version of chicken tikka marsala too....don't you just love how versatile IP is!! :)

Cream substitute for Tikka Masala?
 

Oh I am very happy to have found this.

I bought a spice packet of Tikka Masala sauce in the store yesterday. It calls for cream while cooking it up. Any ideas of what to substitute?

I was going to use olive oil but maybe someone has another interesting suggestion.

you might try a bit of cooked cauliflower pureed with chicken stock, maybe add your oil in there so the fat soluble flavors from the spices don't get lost...

I hear people speak of adding a bit of xanthan gum for body, not sure how that plays with heat, but I have been wanting to research...

you could just add thickened chicken stock in that case too...gives rich flavor and body (add some fat), which is really the purpose of the cream.

well worth it to make your own stock. Exponentially better.

And homemade stock is BETTER FOR YOU! Read about bone broth and you'll make it yourself from now on! So easy!

Your post reminds me of a soup I made recently. The ingredients were lightly sauteed onions, low cal chicken bouillion, rinsed and drained sauerkraut , and sausage meat (I used turkey sausage with no fillers added). The recipe called for adding some cream at the end, and I didn't have any on hand. (I'm in Maintenance and would have been tempted to use cream if I'd had any around). Instead I took some of the bouillion and blended in a tbsp of my unflavored whey protein powder + about 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum. Then blended this into the soup base. The whey based protein powder added a touch of 'milk creaminess' and the xanthan gum thickened to a nice soup consistency. It sounds like an odd combination, but it was very tasty. I'll definitely repeat it.

Wow that sounds delicious! I love sauerkraut. I am going to start playing with the xanthan gum. I bought some unflavored whey to add to the alternatives that were a bit lower in protein. I will definitely give this a shot!:carrot:


I find I really like the puddings as shakes because they thicken up, and I would like to play around with adding a bit of xanthan gum (or guar gum? must do my research!) to the other drink packets.

Its also nice to have something to thicken a sauce...other than more veg. as one who loves veggies I hesitate to slip them in to things rather than getting to chew!

I agree. I'm glad I realized that xanthan gum is so useful as a thickener. I love veggies too, but like you prefer to enjoy chewing them... plus, of course, they do all add some carbs! So if we can thicken the soup or shake with 0 carbs, we're all the better for it. If you add xanthan gum to a shake, start with no more than a scant 1/4 tsp per cup of liquid. Too much, and it produces a slimy consistency that is a bit nasty. I imagine Guar gum would work too, but haven't tried it.

great, I will give it a shot! Thanks!