Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

End of school year approaching. The house vibrates with that particular energy — part exhaustion, part anticipation, the feeling of a finish line that's close but not close enough. Danielle is grading final portfolios. Luc is studying for sixth-grade exams with the kind of intensity that tells me he hasn't studied at all until now. Colette has already completed everything and is reading ahead, because she is Colette and being ahead is her natural state. Rémy has announced that summer starts "now" and is wearing swim trunks indoors.

Business milestone: Marcus passed his journeyman exam. I took him to lunch at a po'boy shop on Chimes Street and told him he'd earned it, which was true, and that he still had a lot to learn, which was also true, and that I was proud of him, which was true and which I said exactly once and then changed the subject because I am, above all things, consistent in my emotional limitations.

Mama's garden is producing. She called to report: tomatoes coming in heavy, cucumbers "as big as my arm" (Mama exaggerates about vegetables the way fishermen exaggerate about fish), and the okra is tall and healthy and she's already freezing bags of it for gumbo season. The fig tree — Joey's fig tree — is loaded. Second year of producing after the two-year silence. Mama says it's making up for lost time. I think trees don't make up for anything, but I also think that tree knows Joey planted it and is doing its best, and I will die on that hill.

Made a Cajun smothered chicken on Thursday. Whole chicken, cut into pieces, seasoned, browned in a Dutch oven, then smothered in a dark gravy with onion and garlic. Covered. Low heat. Two hours. The chicken gives up its juices and the onions melt and the gravy darkens and by the time you lift the lid, you've got something that looks like it came from a grandmother's kitchen in 1962, which is exactly the point. This is not pretty food. This is not Instagram food. This is food that sits in a pot and waits for you and doesn't care what it looks like because it knows what it tastes like, and what it tastes like is Tuesday, and family, and the particular love that only shows up in a covered pot on a low flame.

The smothered chicken on Thursday got me thinking about the whole category of food it belongs to — covered, slow, unrushed, built for a house that is moving too fast around it. Marcus passing his exam, Rémy in swim trunks in April, Luc cramming six weeks of studying into two days — sometimes the best thing you can do is put something in a pot at noon and let it sort itself out. This slow cooker tikka masala is that same spirit in a different kitchen: seasoned, covered, low heat, and absolutely certain of itself by the time anyone gets around to lifting the lid.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 6 hours | Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can (14 oz) full-fat coconut milk
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Fresh cilantro, for serving
Cooked basmati rice or warm naan, for serving

Instructions

Season the chicken. In a large bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the garam masala, cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and black pepper until well coated.
Build the base. Add the diced onion, garlic, and ginger to the bottom of your slow cooker. Stir in the tomato paste, then pour in the crushed tomatoes and stir to combine.
Add the chicken. Nestle the seasoned chicken pieces into the sauce, pressing them down so they are mostly submerged. Cover with the lid.
Cook low and slow. Cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours. The chicken should be very tender and the sauce deeply colored and fragrant. Do not lift the lid early.
Finish with coconut milk. In the last 30 minutes of cooking, stir in the coconut milk. Replace the lid and finish cooking. Taste and adjust salt.
Serve. Spoon generously over basmati rice or alongside warm naan. Scatter fresh cilantro over the top. The sauce is the point — make sure everyone gets plenty of it.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala — The Kind of Cooking That Doesn’t Rush