Bon Appetit is killing it this week! First the pornographic looking patty melt, then this indian-spiced chicken and chickpeas begging me to make it. I'm a fan of Indian, it smells so exotic and aromatic to my traditionally mid-american flavor palate. I have a deep affection for cumin, and i love the bright yellow turmeric, the handfuls of garlic. I also enjoy working with big hunks of meat like these chicken legs, which are unseparated thighs and legs. They look rustic as fuck! and the leg breaks right off of the thigh. I made this the night before, that way I could just shove it into my oven on a lazy weeknight and eat.
I DID burn the shit outta my left forearm, near my wrist?I baked this in my large cast iron deep round pan on the third rack, and when I went to geab it out of the oven an hour after putting it in, I had drank a couple beers and was pretty exhausted at that point, and got too lazy and my forearm hit one of the upper oven racks. It didn't hurt a bit, no burn or sting or irritation at all, but I can see a big red line on my forearm now from where it burnt me. I hope it scars over. My chickpea chicken scar. I love food-related injuries. I have knuckle scars from hand graters and sharp can lids, a wrist scar from the shake machine at the steakburger shack i worked at years ago, oven burns, grease sears, grill scalds, you name it, I love them all.
This recipe is easy enough, though imma marinate the legs overnight next time to really drive the flavors deep into the meat. Peel the skin off the chicken and salt the meat before frying it in oil, 10 minutes on each side, until they're a nice golden brown color. I saved the skin for rendering later on, i just throw it in the pan like I would oil or bacon. Very tasty! Jewish chefs call it "schmaltz." There's a cook book I'd like to try with a bunch of chicken fat recipes in it. Reminds me of the other kosher cookbook I want real bad. Add it to the wishlist!
Remove the chicken and rest it in a dish. Fry some onion in the schmaltz left in the pan, add a shitload of garlic and cook them soft, 10 minutes or so. Add some indian spices next: thinly sliced ginger (buy the fresh shit, the knotty ugly little root next to the jalapenos in the produce aisle? infinitely better than the powder version), coriander, cumin (omg add a handful, do it, dump it in there), turmeric (bright yellow), and cayenne pepper (or hot sauce). Add a can of rinsed chickpeas and some broth, i threw some frozen broth cubes in and topped it off with a couple cans of half-spent room-temp pbr. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan before returning the meat to the pan. If any juice accumulated in the bottom of the dish you were resting the chicken in, pour that tasty shit back in the pan.
Nearly cover the chicken with beer or broth and simmer it, then stick the whole thing in the oven for a little under an hour. Cover it if you can, i didn't have a big enough lid. I could have used an oven pan, but I wasn't too worried about it at the time and it turned out fine. I stuck the pot in the fridge and reheated it in the oven a couple days later, it was very good! I meant to put spinach in there, but I was so lazy I skipped it. And skipped the yogurt. Next time I'll do it proper. I have some tikki masala that's been marinating in seasoned yogurt since Sunday, I think I'll make that tonight and post an update on how yogurt marinades work. I did not fuck around with the spice, either. I shoveled it on in there! It's a pretty red color already. Can't wait to show it to you!
This was an easy dish, very cheap, too! $4 for over 3 pounds of chicken, garlic and ginger are cheap, cents a piece. Indian spices are cheapish, but you can buy rock-bottom priced ones of comparable quality from any foreign market near you. They come in little plastic packets for around a buck a piece. Beats McCormick's $4 for an ounce bullshit. Yogurt's a buck, chickpeas are less than that. Ta da! Looks good, smells good, leftovers aplenty, too. "Your coworkers are gonna be so jealous," my homie says when I make a really nice meal. I didn't bring any in today, though. Today was company catering Wednesday! Cheese bread and toasted ravioli and supreme pizza! Margherita pizza is apparently not inspired by the tequila lime drink? Inspired me to do a series of mixed-drink inspired pizzas. Stay tuned for that idea to develop.
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