Tandoori Chicken

I have a collection of recipes that pile up to the height of Mount Rushmore. Most of them involve chocolate, a variation of chocolates, or chocolate and peanut butter. Cocoa beans, I love you. My sweet tooth has driven most of my decisions over the last six months. My thighs are feeling the jiggly effects of such. Note to self: invest in fruit more often.

I couldn't stop eating Texas Sheet Cake

This recipe however is NOT about sweets. Tricked ya didn’t I!? In fact, this recipe is all about the yummy, juicy, and savory taste of Tandoori chicken. Recipes that involve few ingredients and little prep time typically rank high on my list. My taste buds seriously lack in patience. What can I do? Even stuffed husband couldn’t say enough good things about this dish, albeit was through a mouthful of chicken.

Please, for me, for all that is holy, make this divine chicken!! This recipe will definitely be a regular in our house.

Ingredients:

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 small yellow onion
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 bone-in, chicken legs

Recipe adapted from: Everyday Food.

Directions:

Throw the first 7 ingredients listed above into a blender. You may want to roughly chop the onion first so as to prevent the heart attack that may ensue when you hear your blender choke on a way too sturdy onion. Unless you have a well-constructed blender in which case…I am very jealous of you. Blend these items together for about 15 seconds until you have a mostly creamy consistency. It is ok if you see small chunks of onion and garlic. In fact, onion and garlic are a very good things.
Place your chicken legs in a large pyrex dish with, if possible, a lid. Lids disappear in our house. It’s the gnome, I just know it. He has my ipod charger and tv remote as well. Jerk. Season either side of the chicken with salt and pepper.
Pour the yogurt marinade over the chicken. Cover it with your lid, or aluminum foil, or whatever for about 5 hours. More if you have the patience, which I do not, but no longer than 24 hours.
You can certainly cook this chicken on a grill. In fact, it’s probably best that way but I also do not have a grill. So instead, preheat the oven to 475. Place your marinated chicken on a baking skeet lined with a rack. I placed aluminum foil under the rack to catch the drippings and make clean up easier on that guy I married.
Place the chicken in the oven for 40 minutes.
Flip each leg to allow for even cooking and allow the chicken another 20-25 minutes to complete cooking.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving with jasmine rice, steamed veggies, or a crisp cool salad.