This has been long overdue:
I would like start with a few pointers of a chicken BBQ:
1. Tenderize the meat, this is required to keep the meat extra juicy.
2. Little is more, use as little seasoning as possible to keep the meat juicy and light.
3. Leave at least 3 to 4 inches space between the fire and the meat.
4. Always have an accompanying sauce in contrast to the seasoning used on the BBQ.
5. A salad is a must, not just with BBQ with any meat dish as a rule of thumb.
As I always say, cooking should always be unique to represent each of us, though I share this recipe below be sure to add a little twists of your own to personalize and make it your own.
One would enjoy a BBQ for it's juiciness coupled with the outer crispiness and of course the smoked-in flavors, keep these in mind.
Start with marinating the well sized chicken pieces in lemon: One big lemon to a kilo of Chicken, set this aside for 15 mins. Mix a glass each of red wine and orange juice, and into this add all herbs and seasoning you would like, my standard is parsley, oregano, shallots, celery, Indian basil, a little heat in way of chillies or pepper of your choice (keep the heat to the minimum). Finely chop all the above and mix them with the wine and juice in a kadai, run your hand in it a few times squeezing the chopped herbs. Put the kadai on low heat for a minute just to warm it up. Pour this over the lemon marinated chicken giving the chicken a good squeeze and turn, this should be set aside for an hour.
In that hour, you can get the sauce and basting ready. As you can see the above BBQ would be sweet, sour and juicy with just a hint of heat, the sauce accompanying this if a hot one would be quite nice. So here's a simple fresh mint leaves sauce: The quantity of fresh mint should fill up a dinner plate, to this chopped mint add green chillies a handsome amount, parsley just a little, rosemary and thyme a little of both, salt to taste, a tablespoon of lemon juice (this will keep the sauce green and rich as well); grind all these together with 3 tablespoon olive oil once u see a coarse paste add 200 ml of curd and grind it further until creamy consistency, be sure to balance heat and salt per choice of taste.
Now for the basting (this is used when BBQ is on the fire), a handful of garlic, put it in a mixer top it up with olive oil and grind, to this add a few pepper corns, thyme, rosemary, and grind to a fine paste, check consistency dipping a basting brush.
After the hour, as said earlier make sure the charcoal is at lest 3 to 4 inches below the BBQ grill, we are all set for the BBQ. Give the marinated chicken a good squeeze and turn and shake. When you put the chicken on grill, you must hear just a soft and crisp sizzle, if the sizzle it too much that means you need to move the fire a little more further away and if no sizzle heard then move the fire up - the baking time should be about 10 minutes for extra juicy and 13 mins for well done. Turn them at 2 minute intervals and every time that you turn them baste them.
Just before taking them off the grill, glaze them with a mixture of the juices from the marinade with honey, leave them for about 10 seconds on each side after this.
PS: Make note that
there is no salt added to the marinade.
The above is for a kilo of chicken.
Write to me if you have any queries.
Foo-J and Mixologist
