Tomato and Cilantro marinated Chicken Shashlik

I've always been intrigued by this dish and with my new client, I was able to test it out. Today I prepared tomato and cilantro marinated chicken shashlik with two sauces: Georgian grilled tomato sauce and walnut-yogurt sauce. 

Tomato and Cilantro Marinated Chicken Shashlik

Recipe from Food and Wine

Cooking time: 40 minutes plus marinating overnight

Yield: 8 skewers

Ingredients

2 large plum tomatoes, coarsely grated on a box grater

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup pure olive oil

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

4 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces

vegetable oil, for brushing

salt and pepper

Georgian Grilled Tomato Sauce

4 medium tomatoes, halved

1 large jalapeno

1 small red onion, coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

salt and pepper

Walnut-Yogurt Sauce

1 1/2 cups walnuts (1/2 pound)

1 1/2 whole-milk plain yogurt

2 tsp Sriracha

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 small onion, minced

salt

1/2 cup basil, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Make the marinade for the chicken by combining the grated tomatoes with the garlic, olive oil, and cilantro. Coat the chicken with the marinade and cover. Chill overnight.
2. Prepare the walnut-yogurt sauce by pureeing the walnuts with the yogurt and Sriracha in a food processor. Remove and stir in the onions and garlic. Season with salt and let chill over night. Garnish with the basil before serving.
3. For the tomato sauce, preheat a grill. Add the tomatoes and jalapeno and grill over high heat until charred, about 4 minutes. Remove the stem and seeds from the jalapeno. Roughly chop the grilled tomato. Process the tomato and jalapeno with the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 
4. Remove the chicken from the marinade. Skewer the chicken onto 8 skewers. Brush the chicken with vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over medium heat, turning once you have grill marks on each side. Cook until the chicken is done and lightly charred, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately with the two sauces. 

 Nutrition Facts

per serving: 553 calories, 25.4g fat (5.9g saturated, 9.1g polyunsaturated, 8g monounsaturated), 8g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, 71g protein

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

This dish is great for many reasons, one being that the final product looks and tastes like a gourmet meal when it's actually very simple to prepare. 

Shashlik refers to a popular of Shish Kebabs, originally consisting of lamb. The meat is marinated overnight in a highly acidic ingredient such as sour fruits, vegetables, or vinegar, and seasoned with herbs. In this instance, the shashlik is composed of chicken marinaded in tomato juice with cilantro.

Grating the tomatoes for the chicken marinade is a very clever idea. It extracts the juices from the tomatoes and brings out a slightly tart base on which you can build upon. This actually reminds me of a time when the restaurant I used to work at used to make tomato water; unexpected but a great base for a sauce. I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper when marinading and again right before cooking.

The sauces, particularly the walnut one, tastes better once it sits since it allows the flavors to meld together. I used Greek yogurt instead of whole-milk yogurt and the result was still great.

Since I don't have a grill, I chose to cook the chicken with a broiler, set on medium. This way you still get the slightly charred chicken. 

This dish sings with many flavors and textures. The walnut sauce is by far the best element of the dish, adding a great nutty creamy texture to the chicken. The chicken itself can actually be consumed by itself, but the sauces take it to the next level. The Georgian tomato sauce is more like a salsa, but is still tasty and pairs well with the chicken. Another healthy success!