TWICE-COOKED MOCK TANDOORI CHICKEN

Twice-Cooked Mock Tandoori Chicken image

The chicken recipe here, a kind of mock tandoori chicken, mitigates the bane of chicken grilling (or, for that matter, broiling), the roaring flame-up. By braising the chicken first, you effectively remove just about all the surface fat, practically eliminating the risk of setting the pieces on fire. This same treatment would work nicely with fatty lamb, like chunks of shoulder or even shanks, which without the initial braising would be just about impossible to grill.

Provided by Mark Bittman

Categories dinner, main course

Time 2h

Yield 4 to 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 12

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Ingredients

8 chicken thighs, or thighs and drumsticks
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 or 5 garlic cloves, smashed
1 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped (or use 2 teaspoons dried ginger)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Cayenne or chopped fresh chiles or crushed red chile flakes to taste, optional
3 cups plain yogurt

Steps:

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Put chicken in a deep roasting pan.
Put oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to color, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Stir in the ground spices and cook until just fragrant, no more than a minute. Stir in the yogurt, then spread mixture over chicken. Cover and put in oven; bake until chicken is just cooked through, about 1 1/2 hours. (You can prepare chicken up to a day ahead; if you are not going to grill or broil immediately, put whole pan in refrigerator after it cools down a bit.)
Light a charcoal or gas grill or heat broiler; rack should be about 4 inches away from heat source. Remove chicken from yogurt sauce, scraping away any excess.
Grill or broil over direct heat, turning once or twice, until skin is crisp and charred and meat dries out a bit, about 15 minutes total. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 578, UnsaturatedFat 26 grams, Carbohydrate 11 grams, Fat 42 grams, Fiber 2 grams, Protein 38 grams, SaturatedFat 12 grams, Sodium 820 milligrams, Sugar 7 grams, TransFat 0 grams