Tandoori Grilled Chicken

Memorial Day weekend always calls for something grilled outside! And since the folks over at Peanut Butter Etouffee are holding a BBQ challenge... need I any more excuse?

After spending the better part of the morning Saturday hitting up our favorite ethnic markets, starting with the southeast asian market, where we scored a fresh bun filled with ground pork, whole chunks of char siu, tiny diced century egg, and a whole quail egg... On weekends they get shipments of southeast asian specialties. I spied what I thought to be fresh duck eggs.. very fresh, with feathers still stuck all over them. They were fresh alright... with the chicks even in them! I've heard of this specialty before.. I'm actually pretty sure I've seen Anthony Bourdain subjecting himself to this unusual delicacy... but I think its the one thing I probably couldnt eat... unless perhaps chick and egg were diced so small they are no longer recognizable. Afterwards we made our way to the Japansese/Chinese/Korean market, where I proceeded to spend too much on potential bento box goodies. Conveniently in the same plaza is an Indian market... Dave's favorite... and picked up some side items for our Indian BBQ.

Tandoori chicken is soo wonderful... I've made it once before using this recipe, but have always roasted it in the oven. This is Memorial Day weekend people... no roasting in the oven!!

On with the recipe!

INGREDIENTS
4 tbsp lemon juice
6 large cloves garlic
2 inch ginger root
1 onion, chopped
1 small green chilli
2/3 cups plain yogurt
1 tbsp cilantro
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground chilli
1/4 tsp mace
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt
1 whole chicken, in pieces, pricked with a fork

METHOD

Blend the lemon juice, garlic, ginger, onion and chilli to a smooth paste in a blender or food processor.. Place yogurt, ground spices and salt in a bowl and stir in the paste. Put the chicken into the marinade and rub it all over the chicken. Cover and leave to marinade overnight (or longer!)

Heat grill to medium low, and grill for 40 minutes, turning once, basting with marinade.

We had this with naan, palak paneer, and jasmine rice. As an appetizer (while the chicken grilled) I fried up some popadums and made some onion chutney. Simple recipe... 1 onion, 1 tsp paprika, a tsp ketsup, 1 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1/4 tsp cumin, salt to taste... all chopped together in a food processor.