As summer rolls on I'm trying to cook on the grill as much as possible.
As I search for diet recipes online I am seeing a pattern of grilled foods with an ethnic flavor. As a person who has seen most of the world and lives in one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the U.S. I tend to tire quickly of hamburgers and hot dogs so I was glad to see a large variety of grilled foods from around the world. One of the recipes that caught my interest was Tandoori chicken and red onion skewers with couscous. Although I can generally say that I like Indian food I really haven't eaten a lot of it and I surely have never tried to make any. I figured this is my chance to try making something new and grill at the same time.
One reference for tandoori is a tandoor which is an open air, usually wood or charcoal fired, oven used to cook food in a process very similar to grilling.
Another reference for tandoori is the marinade that the meat is marinaded in.
This marinade is usually a yogurt seasoned with garam, masala, garlic, ginger, cumin, and cayenne or other chili powders. In today's recipe the tandoori marinade is made up of yogurt and per-packaged tandoori seasoning. You can find tandoori seasoning in the ethnic section of your local grocery store, it will be in a paste or sauce form and will probably be labeled as garam tandoori or masala tandoori.
You can use either type of seasoning but I do urge you to marinade it for 7 to 8 hours to get the most flavor out of it.
Another item in this recipe to consider is couscous. Couscous can be found in the same aisle as rice and dry beans and is cooked in a process similar to cooking rice. Also the cucumber-yogurt mixture is a typical Indian side/condiment combination that counters and compliments the heat of most Indian dishes.
suggest you try it in different combinations with the chicken, onion, and couscous.
Now that we've dispelled some of the mystique of Indian cooking let's take a look at today's recipe.
Grilled Tandoori Chicken and Red Onion Skewers with Couscous
Prep time 20 Min. Cook time 9 Min. Serves 4
Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 32 pieces (about 4 pieces per breast)
1 1/4 cups plain fat-free yogurt, divided
2 tablespoons tandoori spice mix
1/2 cup cucumber, diced
3 tablespoons mint leaves, fresh, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium red onion, cut into 16 wedges
2 sprays olive oil cooking spray
2 cups cooked whole wheat couscous, kept warm
Instructions
Put chicken, 1/2 cup of yogurt and spice mix in a resealable plastic food storage bag. Seal bag and turn to mix and coat. Place bag on a plate and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.
To make sauce, in a small bowl stir together remaining 3/4 cup of yogurt, cucumber, mint and salt until blended; refrigerate until ready to serve.
Preheat grill. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Thread chicken and onion wedges onto 8 metal skewers using 4 pieces of chicken and 2 pieces of onion per skewer. (If using wooden skewers soak them in water 30 minutes before use to prevent burning.) Coat chicken and onions with cooking spray.
Grill skewers, turning often, until chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 7 to 9 minutes. Serve skewers over couscous with sauce on the side.
This recipe yields 2 skewers, 1/2 cup of couscous and about 1/4 cup of sauce per serving.
If you haven't ventured far beyond Italian, Mexican, or Chinese foods this is a great and easy place to start. Another item that you might want to add to this dinner is Naan, a flat bread popular in and around the Indian sub-continent.
naan is torn into pieces which are used to pick up small amounts of chicken, onion and couscous and eaten together ala a finger food approach. So I challenge you to get your ingredients together, prep your grill and take your family on a day-trip to India. If you enjoy this dinner I will be posting another Indian dinner in a couple of months. As always, if you try this dinner, check back here and leave a comment to let me know how it turned out.
Next week - Mexican-Style Pork and Sweet Potato Stew or The Tour Continues.
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