Chicken drumsticks marinated in yogurt and spices, baked and broiled yields mildly spicy and flavor infused succulent chicken kababs, according to Kichenkemistry.wordpress.com.
INGREDIENTS:
8 Chicken drumsticks (lower joint of chicken legs)
1/2 tablespoon Lemon juice (freshly squeezed/ bottled)
1 cup Yogurt (drained and thick)
3 teaspoons Ginger-garlic paste
2 tablespoons Besan/ Gramflour
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon Garam masala powder
1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
2 Green chillies (minced)
1 teaspoon Chaat masala (optional)
Oil for greasing
Salt to taste
Lemon wedges and sliced onion to garnish
METHOD
Prepare chicken drumsticks – Grab the chicken thigh with a paper towel.
This keeps it from slipping.
Hold the meaty end of the thigh and pull the skin down.
Using a sharp knife, trim the skin at the joint and excess fat adhering to the drumstick.
Hold the chicken pieces under running water and wash thoroughly.
Pat dry with a kitchen towel to remove moisture.
Wash hands to prevent bacterial contamination.
Slash the meaty portion to make three deep slits.
This helps in absorbing the marinade.
Brush the drumsticks with lemon juice and keep aside.
If the yogurt is not thick, tie it in a cheesecloth and hang for about half an hour to drain excess liquid.
Greek yogurt is usually thick, so I didn’t do this.
Prepare the marinade – Dry roast the besan on low heat taking care not to burn it.
Remove from heat once it starts emitting a nutty and fragrant aroma.
Cool it slightly.
In a bowl, mix the roasted besan, yogurt, turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and salt.
Coat each drumstick with this mixture and preserve the balance marinade.
Place all the drumsticks in a shallow bowl, cover it and marinate for at least 2 hours.
Overnight marination is the best.
That gives time for the chicken to take in the spices while the yogurt tenderizes the meat.
The marinated chicken drumsticks can be roasted over a tandoor or grilled in an oven or even pan fried.
I used the oven method, which requires less oil. Guilt free kababs. Preheat the oven to 425° F/220° C.
Prepare a baking sheet with an aluminium foil and grease with oil.
Arrange the drumsticks on the baking sheet.
Place the baking sheet in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Then, lower the oven temperature to 390° F/200° C and bake till done.
This took about 30 minutes.
Flip the drumsticks a few times so as to bake all sides evenly.
If left to bake without turning sides, one side sticks to the foil and gets ripped when removed from the baking sheet.
As you turn sides of the drumstick, brush the reserved marinade on all sides.
Brushing the marinade forms a uniform coating.
The starch granules in the besan swells as the drumstick gets baked.
This will produce a thick layer of coating of marinade.
If you desire the grilled look for the kababs, run the drumsticks under the broiler for 3-5 minutes keeping the oven door ajar.
Keep an eye as you may over do the broiling resulting in charred drumsticks.
BBN/SK/AD