Shredded Indian Style Chicken

 

Shredded chicken is a great healthy lunch idea, but it can be boring. So we’re always looking for new ways to dress up shredded chicken. Before we dive into how we “spiced” up this chicken, let me start with a public service announcement:

Split Chicken Breasts are your friend. As opposed to their fascist hyper muscular brethren, the boneless skinless chicken breast, the split chicken breast is a solemn reminder that even in the chicken breast world flavor and texture are still viable options. So don’t be afraid of split chicken breast, use it to your advantage to elevate your chicken breast culinary world!

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we can continue.

I always use split chicken breast when I want to make quick shredded chicken, it’s juicer and the bones add way more flavor to the meat. And it’s a little cheaper, typically.

With this dish I decided to go down the Indian take-out route by using Indian spices, tomatoes, and a little bit of cream. Indian cuisine for me is a perfect blend of Persian ingredients and Southeast Asian ingredients. Indian cuisine specifically Mughlai cuisine is heavily influenced by Persian food so it always has an interesting flavor profile for me.

The end result of this dish is a chicken tikka masala esque type dish that is so satisfying yet not as gut busting as standard chicken tikka masala.

*Yes, I’m aware chicken tikka masala is not actually a real Indian dish, but rather one made by Indian chefs in the U.K., legend has it. But everyone still associates that flavor profile with Indian food.*

Recipe

Ingredients

1 Split Chicken Breast

2 Cups Water

2 tsp. Salt

Sauce

3 Cups of Chicken Broth

1 Tbsp. Butter

1 Cup Diced Onions

1 Tbsp. Crushed Garlic

4 Tbsp. Heavy Cream

1 Cup Green Peas

2 Cups of Tomato Puree

2 Tbsp. Tomato Paste

1 Tbsp. Garam Masala

1 Tsp. Cumin

1 Tsp. Coriander

A pinch Turmeric (think less than a half a tsp.)

2 Tsp. Salt

1 Tsp. Black Pepper

Method

Step 1: In a medium sized pot, boil the chicken with the water and salt.

Step 2: After about 20 to 30 minutes, once the chicken is fully cooked remove from the water and debone meat (should fall apart essentially)

Step 3: As the chicken is cooking prepare your sauce. First heat the butter in a pot so it foams.

Step 4: Then add your onions,garlic, and spices to the pot.

Step 5: Once they’ve turned golden brown, add your tomato paste, stir for about a minute, then add your puree. Taste your sauce, if needs more garam masala add more. Or if it needs a stronger tomato flavor, add more paste.

Step 6: Now add your chicken broth and green peas to the sauce. Allow the sauce to reduce some so it’s not watery, then add your cream, salt, and pepper. Stir on low heat.

Step 7: Now add your shredded chicken back into the sauce, mix for about a minute and then serve with some fresh rice.