Indian barbecue chicken

Weeks ago I made herbed naan as a side to this wonderful Indian BBQ chicken. I know I promised to post this recipe so here it is!

Indian Barbecue Chicken

Recipe from Food and Wine

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

vegetable oil

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

1 cup ketchup

1/3 cup distilled white vinegar

1/3 cup tamarind puree

1/3 cup unsulphured molasses

pinch of sugar

3 tbsp whole grain mustard

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp garam masala

salt and freshly ground black pepper

four 6-ounce skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves

Directions

1. In a skillet, heat 3 tbsp of oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until translucent, 4 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Add the ketchup, vinegar, tamarind, molasses, sugar, mustard and cayenne and simmer over low heat, stirring, until reduced to 1 3/4 cups, 5 minutes. Stir in garam masala and season with salt and black pepper.
2. Light a grill. Rub the chicken with oil and season with salt. Grill over moderately high heat, turning once, until almost cooked, about 7 minutes. Brush with the sauce and grill over low heat, brushing and turning, until glazed, about 4 minutes, then serve.

Nutritional Analysis:
per serving: 407 calories, 9.2g fat (2.5g saturated, 2.0g polyunsaturated, 3.6g monounsaturated),  48.2g carbohydrates, 1.8g fiber, 34.3g protein

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

Although I followed the ingredients for preparing this chicken, I changed the method. Make the sauce as instructed by the recipe. For the garam masala, I chose to make my own with the spices I had on hand. The measurements are as follows:

4 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp black peppercorns

1 1/2 tsp black cumin seeds

1 1/2 tsp dry ginger

3/4 tsp black cardamom (3-4 pods)

3/4 tsp cloves

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp crushed bay leaves

Toast all of the spices excluding the ginger on a skillet over medium heat. When the spices become aromatic and slightly brown, remove from heat and grind in a spice grinder or coffee grinder.

For the tamarind puree, I only had tamarind paste, which is more concentrated, so I used half the amount. 

Once the sauce is ready and has cooled, rub 1/2 of the amount onto the chicken. 

Preheat heat to 350 degrees. Lay the chicken on a sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked. Remove from oven and brush on the remaining sauce on the chicken. Turn on the broiler and finish the chicken in the broiler, allowing the sauce to become a glaze. Remove from heat and serve.

Delicious! This barbecue sauce is not too sweet with a subtle hint of the spices. The chicken is so full of flavor and not dry at all! Paired with the herbed naan and home made tzatziki makes for a complete satisfying meal.