After last week’s venture into yogurt-based marinades for beef (visit TheTahoeWeekly.com for recipe), I thought I would go with one more recipe that I think is a lot more common to anyone familiar with Indian cuisine.
This was in fact, the first Indian dish I made way back during my apprenticeship program. Unfortunately, my recipe book that I had been putting together as part of that program got taken out of the chef’s office and never made it back, so I’m using one that my sister gave me. The main difference between the Tandoori chicken and last week’s beef marinade is that this one is spicier, which is what I usually think of with Indian foods.
A great rule of thumb when cooking is to take a look at the recipe first, checking out all the ingredients. Next, before any mixing or adding ingredients into the bowl, place all the ingredients on the counter so you can see just what you have and what you need. This way you don’t get started and then realize you need to run to the store for something not in your cupboard.
For this recipe, you will notice you need 1 tablespoon of Garam Masala. I have heard of this before, but didn’t really know what it was, so I looked it up and found it to be a blend of different spices much like Chinese five spices.
I obviously knew I didn’t have any, I have seen it at the stores but never purchased it but after looking at the ingredients on several sites, I found I had most of the ingredients so I made my own blend. When looking at the various Web sites, I noticed there were quite a few variations and a lot of them started with whole spice pods roasted and then ground.
If you happen to have the ingredients in the ungrounded form and want to do the extra steps, I’m sure the flavors will be intensified, but since I had all the basics in the grounded forms, I used them and the dish came out great. I do always use fresh, grated nutmeg, so if your nutmeg is purchased already ground, you might want to add a tiny bit more. Also, as always, if you like spicier dishes, add a little more cayenne.
One conclusion I’ve made after tasting both the beef yogurt marinade and the Tandoori chicken is that I’m going to have to keep some yogurt in the refrigerator for easy alternatives to the basic oil and vinegar marinades. The marinades are easy to mix together and since you can leave the meat in them longer (I let the chicken marinate for about 24 hours), it’s much harder to mess up your desired dish. As for the Garam Masala, you can save the leftover blend in an empty spice jar or other air tight container for future use. It also would go great in the beef marinade from last week. Enjoy.
Garam Masala
1 T cumin
1½ t coriander
1½ t cardamom
1½ t black pepper
1 t cinnamon
½ t clove
½ t nutmeg
Marinade
6-8 pieces chicken
2 t salt
1 lemon, juiced
1 C plain yogurt
½ onion, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 thumb-tip sized piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 t cayenne
1 T Garam Masala
1½ t water
1 lemon, wedged
First, make the Garam Masala blend. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together well and place in a plastic baggie with the chicken, being sure to coat all of the chicken. Let marinade in the refrigerator overnight.
Grill or bake until chicken is done. Serve with the lemon wedges.
