Tandoori Grilled Chicken
My husband came home from a business trip years ago & told me he had eaten at an Indian restaurant & it was his new favorite food. I'll admit I was a little shocked because what I knew of it, the flavors of Indian cuisine were overwhelming. However, that same year we were invited to a party with authentic Indian dishes & then our family began eating at a great local Indian restaurant & I began to realize I too loved the delicious pairings of spices found in this one-of-a-kind cuisine.
This, however, was before I was diagnosed with a milk allergy & before I really cared about the quality of ingredients of things I ate, so I didn't worry too much about what went into my food. After making the decision to eat healthy & follow Paleo guidelines, I realized that many of the Indian dishes I loved were made with dairy + things like tandoori chicken in restaurants are colored with red food coloring!
Instead of using traditional yogurt to marinate this chicken, I use a plain, unsweetened coconut milk yogurt. It doesn't make this chicken taste like coconut at all. The chicken gets its red hue from the paprika & cayenne pepper.
Also, Tandoori Chicken generally has a nice little kick to it in the realm of spice. This dish is just slightly spicy, so if you have littles or someone in your house doesn't like spice, then just reduce the cayenne pepper by half or even take it down to a 1/4 teaspoon instead of a whole teaspoon. But I'll tell you that I don't really like spicy foods & this isn't too much for me at the 1 teaspoon called for in the recipe.
Try serving this with Asian cauli-rice.
Tandoori Grilled Chicken
ingredients
3 pounds chicken thighs, boneless & skinless
2 - 5 ounce containers, plain, unsweet coconut milk yogurt
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1" piece ginger, peeled & roughly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon paprika
3 teaspoons garam masala
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon each: ground cumin, turmeric, onion powder, ground coriander, cayenne pepper
directions
place all ingredients, except the chicken in a blender & blend on medium for about 30 seconds or until garlic & ginger are pureed into the yogurt & spices.
pour the marinade over the chicken thighs & place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but preferably up to 4 hours.
heat an outdoor grill to a moderately high heat & grill chicken 5-7 minutes per side until it reaches an internal temperature of 165.* {These copper grilling sheets have become one of my favorite things & they make grill clean up a breeze!}
remove chicken to a large dish & cover. place it in a warm area let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
*alternately you can bake this chicken on a rimmed cookie sheet @ 400 degrees for 22-24 minutes. This will yield a chicken that has quite a bit more sauce. I've done it both ways & we prefer the grilled method but the baked one is still good & a great option if outdoor cooking isn't your thing!