Best Tandoori Chicken Thighs With Pickled Vegetable Rice Recipes

TANDOORI CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Rinse and pat dry chicken thighs.
• In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. Add thighs and make sure they are coated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 to 3 hours, preferably overnight.
• Set up grill for indirect cooking over medium-high heat. Oil grate when ready to start cooking. Remove chicken from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Cook 40 to 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F. Check for doneness by cutting into thigh to make sure there is no redness near bone.
• NOTE INDOOR GRILLING: Prepare chicken as directed. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Roast in preheated oven on foil lined baking sheet for 30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F.

TANDOORI CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix the first eight ingredients until blended. Add chicken to marinade; turn to coat. Let stand 10 minutes., Place chicken on greased grill rack. Grill, covered, over medium heat 6-8 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 170°.

BAKED CHICKEN THIGHS, RICE, AND VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Pat chicken thighs dry with a paper towel, and season both sides with seasoned salt.
• Heat olive oil in a 12-inch oven-proof nonstick skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Brown chicken thighs lightly in the hot oil, about 3 minutes. Turn, and sprinkle smoked paprika evenly on top. Continue cooking until chicken thighs are light brown, about 3 minutes. Chicken will not be cooked through. Transfer chicken to a plate and keep warm.
• Cook chopped onion in the same skillet until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add rice, stirring and scraping the bottom of the skillet, until the rice picks up a little color, about 4 minutes. Stir in butternut squash cubes and frozen green beans and season with herbes de Provence. Pour in chicken broth, and set browned chicken thighs on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
• Place Caesar croutons in the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse several times, until the croutons are reduced to coarse crumbs.
• Sprinkle crumbs over chicken, rice, and vegetables, and continue to bake until chicken is done and the butternut squash and rice are tender, 15 to 20 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

GRILLED TANDOORI CHICKEN WITH INDIAN-STYLE RICE

Steps:

• Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
• Use a sharp knife to cut slits into the chicken pieces; this will allow the marinade to really get into the chicken. 3 slits per drumstick and 4 to 5 per thigh should do the trick.
• Usually, Tandoori Chicken calls for the skin to be removed, but I left it on because you want that crispy chicken skin (obviously). You can decide for yourself, but be aware that skin-on chicken is more prone to flare-ups when grilling. You'll have to watch the chicken more closely while it's on the grill and flip the pieces more often to avoid hot spots--all reasonable trade-offs for some extra flavor!
• Place the chicken in a large dish. Spread the marinade all over the chicken and let marinate at least 12 hours, but not more than 2 days. We marinated our chicken for 16 hours, and even more marinating time wouldn't have hurt!
• Be sure to take the chicken out of the refrigerator 3 to 4 hours prior to grilling, so the chicken can come to room temperature--kind of like how you never want to grill a cold steak. This is an important step since there will be marinade on the chicken, and it will burn if the chicken is left too long on the grill because its internal temperature is too low.
• This is a good time to make your Indian-style jeera rice. We've measured out enough rice here to take down all of the chicken, but feel free to make more or less. Wash the rice thoroughly and drain into your cooking vessel. Cover with water and allow to soak for 20 minutes.
• While that's happening, heat your oil/butter/ghee in a saucepan. When it's melted, add the cumin seeds, cloves, and cinnamon stick. Let the spices infuse the oil for 2-3 minutes. After the rice has finished soaking, drain it thoroughly and add it to the spice mixture. Sauté the rice in the pan for about 2 minutes, and transfer to a rice cooker. Add the salt and water (according to your rice cooker directions), and press Start. If you're not using a rice cooker, use our directions for perfect stovetop rice.
• Now it's time to cook the chicken. Start your grill, and keep it covered until it reaches 500 degrees.
• Shake off the excess marinade before placing the chicken on the hot grill. Cook with the grill covered, but stay close to watch for excess smoke, a sure indicator that your chicken is charring!
• Turn the chicken as often as needed to prevent burning and keep the grill cover on so the chicken cooks through quickly. Our chicken took about 45 minutes, and we did have to turn and move the chicken pieces often.
• The chicken is done when the juices run clear when poked or, better yet, use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature near the bone. The optimal temperature for chicken is 165 degrees F.
• For the rice, during the last 2-3 minutes of cooking time, add the frozen peas and stir thoroughly. Let the rice reheat. Serve the chicken with the rice, sliced fresh cucumbers, sliced red onion, and cilantro.

EIGHT-SPICE SQUASH AND CHICKEN THIGHS STEW WITH LENTIL RICE

Steps:

• Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with the EVOO in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken until crisp, and then remove from the pan. Add the ginger, garlic, onions and chiles and sprinkle with some salt. Stir in the ras el hanout, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, and cook until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Pour in 2 cups of the stock along with the squash and tomatoes and simmer 15 minutes. Return the chicken to the pot and simmer to cook through, 10 minutes longer, and then wilt in the spinach. Cool and store for a make-ahead meal, preparing the rice as the chicken reheats over medium heat.
• Cook the lentils in boiling salted water until tender, 7 to 10 minutes for red lentils, 15 minutes for brown. Drain and reserve. Meanwhile, bring the remaining 1 cup stock, 3/4 cup water and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in another small saucepot. Add the rice and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until tender, 16 to 18 minutes. Fluff with a fork, and then combine with the lentils, pomegranate, scallions, cilantro and mint and serve with the chicken.

TANDOORI-ISH CHICKEN WITH LIME-PICKLED CUCUMBER

Steps:

• Slash the chicken with a sharp knife. Mix the yogurt, garlic, ginger, tomato purée, spices, lemon juice and 1½ tsp salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken, turn to coat, then cover and chill in the fridge overnight.
• For the pickle, mix together the lime juice, sugar, chilli and 1 tsp salt, then toss with the cucumber and red onion. Chill until ready to use or up to 1 hr.
• Blitz the yogurt, cumin and herbs with a pinch of salt until smooth. Chill until needed.
• Shake off the excess marinade and put the chicken on a baking tray, reserving the marinade. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4, then once at temperature, change the setting and heat the grill to high. Grill the chicken, skin-side-up, for 10-15 mins or until beginning to blacken a little. Change the setting back to an oven heat of 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Transfer the chicken to a roasting tin, then brush with the reserved marinade and cook for 20 mins. Serve with the cucumber, yogurt, cucumber pickle and pilau rice.