Tandoori Chicken with Lemon Rice

My husband and I both really enjoy Indian food. Our old apartment was within walking distance of curry row, and we loved walking over to try all of the different regional specialties. Those dining experiences inspired us to try many of the dishes at home including Tandoori Chicken. It requires just a bit of hands-on time and planning ahead, and the results are full of flavor and spice. It does require quite a few spices. I recommend looking for them at an ethnic market where spices tend to be more affordable than at the grocery store and you can often purchase smaller quantities.


We served the chicken with some lemon rice. The the tartness of the lemon in the rice is balanced by the cashews, and it's always a big hit. Marinating the chicken in the yogurt and lemon spice mixture keeps it nice and moist and tender. We served this to company so we adjusted the quantities to make sure there would be enough for our guest and some leftovers. Both recipes can easily be adjusted up or down to accommodate your numbers.

Tandoori Chicken
serves 6

2 lbs cut up chicken (we just used chicken legs)
2 T garlic, roughly chopped
2 T ginger, peeled and chopped
2 T cumin seeds, or ground cumin
2 t ground coriander
1 t cayenne
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t pepper
2 t salt
1 C yogurt
4 T lemon juice (juice of one lemon)
2 T coconut oil
1-2 onions, cut into thick slices
cilantro, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the skin from the chicken, rinse and place in a bowl. Combine the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cayenne, cardamom, cloves and pepper in a food processor or blender. Pulse the spice mixture until the garlic and ginger are integrated. Add the yogurt and lemon, and pulse to combine. Pour the yogurt spice mixture over the chicken. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least an hour, but up to 24 hours. Coat the bottom of a casserole pan with the oil, and place the sliced onions and chicken in a single layer. Bake the chicken for 30 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

Lemon Rice
inspired by The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi

1 1/2 C rice
3 C water
1 t salt
3 T butter
1/2 C raw cashews
1 T mustard seeds
1/3 t turmeric
1/3 C lemon (juice of 2 lemons)
3 T cilantro

Add the rice, water, salt and 1 T butter to a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Follow the cooking directions for your rice. While the rice is cooking, melt the remaining butter in a small skillet and add the cashews. Cook until they are starting to turn golden. Add the mustard seeds and cook 2 more minutes. Once the rice is finished cooking, add the mustard seed, cashew and butter combination plus the lemon juice, turmeric and cilantro and fold together. Garnish with some extra cilantro.

This post is part of Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Delectable Tuesday Blog Hop, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Tasty Tuesdays, Works-for-me Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Let's Do Brunch, Welcomne Wednesday, and Real Food Wednesdays.

Lentils and Rice

We continue on our quest to eat up all of the CSA vegetables before we leave town tomorrow night. This quest led to a strange combination of dishes for dinner last night. Each one was very good in its own right, but they were a bit odd together. We started with hummus with turnips and radishes (a recipe to follow in another post). I quickly baked some kale "chips," and immediately regretted turning the oven on. We rounded out the night with some kale with bacon and lentils and rice. The kale with bacon was delicious, but my husband aptly observed that it tasted like a BBQ dish. It would pair really well with some grilled meat, potato salad, etc. The lentil recipe was adapted from our Indian food store's recipe. It was also very good and would go nicely with a salad and some simple vegetables. Here are the recipes:

Lentils and Rice
1 small red onion, chopped
handful of garlic scapes, finely chopped
2 t ginger, chopped
4 T butter or oil
1/2 t garam masala
1/2 t cumin seed
1/2 t turmeric (I used fresh, but powdered will work too)
1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, minced
1 C rice and lentil mixture
4 C water
1 pinch salt

Saute onion, scapes and ginger in butter or oil until soft. Add the garam masala, cumin seed, turmeric and jalapeno and cook for a couple of more minutes. Add the rice and lentil mixture and water and cook over medium heat until tender (about 25-30minutes). Serve with cilantro and green onion or leftover chutney.

Kale with Bacon
5 slices bacon
1 bunch of kale, torn into pieces
2 T balsamic vinegar

Cook the bacon until starting to brown. Remove from the heat and cut into bite size pieces. Pour off any excess fat. Return the bacon pieces to the pan and add the kale. Once the kale is tender, add the balsamic vinegar and cook just a couple extra minutes.