Yogurt Chicken

Recipe for The Daring Kitchen
Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
This dish was happened upon by accident – while making tandoori chicken for the first time, I worked out a version that would leverage the tenderizing properties of the yogurt without any turmeric (the hubs can’t eat it).  The result was a delicately spiced marinade that turned white meat chicken into a moist, flavorful treat that could hold up to cooking without drying out.

I prepped this dish as part of August’s Daring Kitchen as my husband couldn’t eat the tumeric-spiced coconut curry meatballs that were the focus of the meal.  Thank goodness I made enough chicken for all to try, because his “special” dish became one of the hits of the party.

When you make this for yourself, feel free to experiment with your spice blend (cumin, turmeric, saffron, coriander, chile pepper) and season with a heavy hand.  The yogurt mellows everything out and the spices are subtle and delicate after cooking.

Yogurt Chicken

2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 quart of plain yogurt
1 tbs. of garlic powder
1/2 tbs. of onion powder
4 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of 3 lemons
4 tbs. of olive oil
1 tsp. of paprika
1 tsp. of black pepper
2 tsp. of salt

Cut each breast into thirds and place in a large tupperware.  Add all other ingredients to chicken and stir well to combine.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

You can thread the chicken onto skewers and grill until cooked through, about 10 minutes per side.  Or, if you don’t have access to a grill, line a cookie sheet with foil and top with a rack.  Place chicken pieces on the rack and broil on high in the oven for 10 minutes per side.  Serve with rice or naan bread and maybe a lazy salad.