Easy Chicken Masala and revisiting my knife skills

I suppose I have to thank Bon Appetit Magazine for my weekend of cooking.  A recipe from a while back for yesterday's soup and a DELICIOUS recipe for Chicken Masala from the most recent issue.

I love Indian food but have always been reluctant to try and cook it myself for one reason: so many ingredients!  I got Padma Lakshmi's Tangy Tart Hot and Sweet cookbook a few years ago but have yet to make anything out of it because most of the dishes call for at least 10 ingredients, most of them spices I don't own.  I'm slowly building up my Indian spice repertoire.  Until then, I am relying on spice packets from Whole Foods!  Thankfully that's exactly what the Bon Appetit recipe called for.

Two years ago I took a knife skills class at L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, MD .  I had so much fun, even though I came home with a blister on my right index finger from all the chopping!  In the class they gave us a few chickens to cut up and de-bone.  Usually when I buy whole chickens it's to roast them.  This recipe was a fun excuse to try and cut one up again!

Easy Chicken Masala
as found in Bon Appetit's February 2010 issue

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (I left this out... sorry Cilantro lovers)
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs garam masala ( I used a ready mixed bag I bought at Whole Foods but you can also mix your own with the appropriate spices too!)
2 tsp salt
1 large garlic clove ( I used two small ones)
1 4-4 1/2 lb whole chicken (I could only find a 7 lb one so that's what I used)


Directions:
Cut up the whole chicken into 8 pieces.

Next, mix the yogurt, olive oil, garam masala, salt and garlic in a glass baking dish. 

Add the chicken.  Cover it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it at least 2 hours and up until 1 day.

Preheat over to 400 degrees and roast chicken for 45-50 minutes.  I checked mine after 45 minutes and it was almost done... 50 minutes is a good happy medium I think.


This recipe could not have been easier to make. The yogurt made the chicken so moist and the garam marsala gave it such amazing flavor.  Roasting turned the marinade into a caramelized crust.  Yum!!  This is a must try recipe!

Enjoy!