BBQ chicken. Somewhat Indian.

Summer finally arrived here in Munich - at least for the next two days, then it will be raining again. So I enjoy it while I can... And additionally, it's the last week before my summer vacation! Just 5 more days to go, then I'll be staying for 3 weeks in a small house in south-western France, just a 10 minute's drive from the beach. And I'll be spending the days at the beach and firing up a real barbecue every night. I really miss barbecues. Because there's a law and/or regulation for everything in Germany, we're not allowed to have a BBQ or just a gas grill on the balcony. So I have an electric griddle, but it's really not the same.



Have you ever heard of the Steven Raichlen's "Barbecue Bible"? It's a thick cook book with tons of recipes and general instructions for grilling I find very helpful and interesting (but don't trust me: I like reading cook books like other people read novels). This is one of the recipes I found work very well, even if you only can use an electric griddle (or a simply pan in winter) instead of a proper barbecue. It works really simple and the chicken tastes best with a side of grilled pita or focaccia bread, some tsaziki and maybe a nice green salad. Because you marinate the meat for several hours, it gets a tangy flavor from the yogurt and tastes exotic (but not too much) because of the different spices.


BBQ CHICKEN Tandoori style

175 g / 2/3 cup Greek yogurt (10% fat)
small pinch of saffron threads
3 large gloves garlic, minced
2,5 cm / 1 in long piece of fresh ginger, minced
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Garam Masala
500 g / 1 lb chicken breasts


Mix the first 6 ingredients together.


Prepare the chicken breast the way you like them and place them in a Ziploc bag.

You can use whatever chicken parts you like, but I'm super picky with veins and silver skin, so I buy boneless and skinless ones and cut everything away I don't like. By the way, I gently fry all those nasty bits in a pan with a little bit of oil and - as soon it cooled down a bit - my cat Henry is all over it.


Pour the yogurt mixture into the Ziploc bag, close the bag while getting out as much air as possible and make sure every chicken bit is covered with it. Put it in your fridge for a couple of hours - 2 are OK, overnight would be even better (don't forget to put some beers in you fridge while you're at it).

Fire up your BBQ/electric griddle and grill them until they are done and have some dark brown bits. Pop a beer and enjoy the meat with a good piece of grilled bread.