Indian Spicebox Grilled Chicken Recipes

SPICED INDIAN GRILLED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine the fenugreek, garam masala, sugar, garlic, cardamom, peppercorns, salt, yogurt, and tomato paste in a large bowl and mix well; set aside 1/4 cup of the marinade for basting. Add the chicken thighs and drums and coat well. Cover the bowl and let marinate in the fridge for 45 minutes to 4 hours.
• When ready to cook, preheat a grill to medium-high. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and place on the hot grill. Basting regularly with the reserved marinade, cook until the chicken is done and juices run clear, about 35 to 40 minutes.

GRILLED INDIAN-SPICED BUTTER CHICKEN

Steps:

• Marinate chicken:
• Purée onion, garlic, ginger, salt, chile, and vinegar to a smooth paste in a food processor. Transfer to a large wide bowl and whisk in yogurt, coriander, oil, turmeric, and cayenne. Add chicken pieces and turn to coat thickly. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate, chilled, at least 16 hours. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before grilling.
• Make ghee:
• Bring butter to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat. When foam completely covers butter, reduce heat to very low. Cook butter until a very thin crust begins to form on surface and milky white solids fall to bottom of pan, about 8 minutes. Continue to cook butter, watching constantly, until solids at bottom of pan turn light brown and butter has a nutty fragrance, 8 to 16 minutes.
• Remove pan from heat and let butter stand 1 minute. Pour through a sieve lined with a dampened heavy-duty paper towel or a triple layer of cheesecloth into a bowl, discarding solids.
• Prepare grill for cooking over indirect heat with medium-hot charcoal (moderate heat for gas); see Grilling Procedure .
• To cook chicken using a charcoal grill: Lightly oil grill rack. Put chicken (still heavily coated with marinade) on rack over area of grill with no coals underneath. Drizzle chicken with about 1 tablespoon ghee. Cook chicken over medium-high heat, turning over and drizzling with ghee every 5 minutes, until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.
• To cook chicken using a gas grill: Lightly oil grill rack. Put chicken over shut-off burner. Cook chicken, turning over and drizzling with ghee every 5 minutes, until cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes. (Cover grill between turns.)
• Serve chicken drizzled with any remaining ghee.

INDIAN SPICE BOX CHICKEN

Steps:

• Make the Chilli-ginger garnish (see right), before you start the chicken.
• Cut down the length of the green chillies, then remove the seeds by scraping them out with a teaspoon. You may want to wear rubber gloves for this job - fiery seeds can give the fingers a real chilli sting. Cut off the stalk ends, chop the chillies into rough pieces and put them in a blender or food processor. Peel and roughly chop the garlic and add to the chillies. Do the same with the ginger.
• Pick the leaves off the coriander and drop them into the blender as you go (reserve the stems for the garnish). Tip in the yogurt and blitz everything to a puree. This can take a few minutes and you may have to stop the blender a few times to scrape all the gunge down from the sides - a rubber spatula will make this job much easier.
• Peel, halve and thinly slice the onions. Pull the skin off the chicken, using kitchen paper to help you get a good grip. Heat the oil in a saute pan over a medium heat until hot - when you drop in a spice seed or two it should sizzle. Toss in the fennel and cumin seeds and let them crackle and pop for 10-20 seconds, stirring all the time so they don't burn. They're ready when you get a lovely whiff of warm nuts. If the oil starts to smoke, remove pan from the heat.
• Plop in the butter and let it melt, then throw in the sliced onions and turn the heat down a tad. Stir to mix the onions and spice seeds, then cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are meltingly soft and tinged golden brown. Give them a vigorous stir now and then, but don't stir them too often or they won't take on any colour.
• Push the onions to one side of the pan, then add the chicken thighs, smooth side down. Increase the heat to between medium and high and fry the chicken until it's golden brown on both sides. This should take about 15-20 minutes and you will need to turn the pieces over halfway (a pair of tongs are good for this). Watch carefully in case the onions start to brown too much - if they do, pile them up on top of the chicken.
• Stir in some of the yogurt mixture and cook until it disappears - repeat a dollop at a time. Whizz 150ml/¼ pint cold water in the blender to use the last bits of the mixture and add to the pan with a pinch of salt. Stir until bubbling, scraping up any crispy bits. Reduce the heat to its lowest and cover the pan tightly. Simmer for 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is tender when pierced, stirring and turning halfway and adding a splash of hot water if the sauce is too dry. Serve sprinkled with finely chopped coriander stems and a little chilli garnish (put the rest in a bowl on the table).

SPICY INDIAN GRILLED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine all marinade ingredients well.
• Coat chicken pieces in marinade paste.
• Marinate from 1 hour, or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
• Grill over medium coals until browned, about 15 minutes each side.

BHATTI DA MURGH (INDIAN GRILLED CHICKEN WITH WHOLE SPICES)

Steps:

• Pop the joint on each leg: Grasp a drumstick in one hand and a thigh in the other, and bend the joint back until you hear a crack. This helps the leg cook more evenly.
• Using a small knife, make a slash in the meaty part of each drumstick and thigh twice or three times, going all the way to the bone.
• In a large bowl, stir together garlic, ginger, vinegar, cayenne, garam masala and salt. Keep half the mixture in the bowl and set aside; rub remaining mixture all over chicken, getting underneath the skin. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes (or up to 2 hours) while you prepare the yogurt marinade.
• Stir yogurt into the large bowl with ginger-garlic mixture, then stir in black pepper, clove, mace, anise, black cardamom (if using) and green cardamom. Transfer spice-rubbed chicken to yogurt mixture, tossing gently to coat.
• Cover and refrigerate chicken for at least 6 hours, and preferably overnight.
• When ready to cook, prepare the grill for indirect heat. (If using a charcoal grill, mound coals to one side, allowing for an area of indirect heat. If using a gas grill, turn on only a few of the burners and leave the rest off.) Or heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Using a mortar and pestle, the flat side of a knife or a spice grinder for a very brief time, crack the cumin, coriander and red-pepper flakes but do not grind; you want a coarse texture here. Sprinkle spice mix onto chicken to coat each piece.
• Place a rimmed baking sheet on the unlit side of the grill or in the oven and let heat for 15 minutes. Carefully place chicken on the hot baking sheet and drizzle each piece with a little melted butter. Cover grill, if grilling. Let chicken cook for 25 to 35 minutes, drizzling with melted butter two or three times. The chicken is done when the skin is dark brown and the juices run clear when pricked with a knife.
• If you are grilling, you can sear the chicken over direct heat for 1 to 2 minutes per side just before serving to char the skin, but this is optional. Serve chicken on a platter, with lime wedges on the side.

INDIAN SPICEBOX GRILLED CHICKEN

Steps:

• 1. Trim chicken breasts and slice horizontally, not quite through, opening up like a book. Pound flat to ½" even thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• 2. Combine yoghurt, garlic, garam masala, cumin and turmeric together. Spoon mixture into a glass lidded container. Add chicken and turn to cover with marinade. Let marinate 20 minutes to overnight.
• 3. Prepare grill to medium heat, oiling grill rack. Place chicken onto grill ; grill turning once, about 3-4 mintues per side. Check for doneness (160 degrees) then let rest off heat.
• 4. Sprinkle chicken with fresh minced cilantro, and serve with lime wedges, and fresh slivers of sweet onion and fresh tomato wedges if desired.