Cumin Chicken Tikka

1 pound of chicken drumsticks

1 TBS Lime juice

Salt to taste

3 oz. of greek yogurt

3 cloves of garlic

Heaping tsp ginger paste

heaping tsp Indian red chili paste

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp cayenne

heaping tsp cumin seeds

heaping tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cornflour

1 tsp sugar

1 tbs peanut oil

slash chicken Indian style with kitchen scissors. Rub the lime juice into the chicken and sprinkle all over with salt. While this is marinating mix the rest of the ingredients well and once assemble and the chicken has sat a good 15 minutes in the pre-marinade rub the yogurt and spice mixture well into the chicken. Allow this to marinate for at least a couple of hours, but preferably overnight.

To cook the chicken you may grill it or broil it turning the chicken every ten minutes till the internal temperatures is about 165 or the chicken is coming easily away from the bone. Half way through baste the chicken on side, then towards the last 10-15 minutes baste again on the other side with the remaining marinade. It's find if parts of it appear to be burning. That is just flavor.

Serve either plain or with a tikka masala style gravy, which I provide my recipe here.

Tikka Masala Gravy

TBS butter

3 garlic cloves, minced

1.5 tsp ginger paste

2 tsp Indian red chili paste

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground fennel

sprinkling of cayenne

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tbs tomato paste

Juice of 2/3s of a lime

1 14.5 oz. can of tomatoes, pureed

Salt to taste

TBS butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

Melt butter on low. Add in garlic, ginger, chili paste. Allow to stir fry for a bit till fragrant and lovely. Add in the ground spices and stir about. Allow fragrance to develop. Stir in the tomato paste and allow to cook of for a bit and mix into the aromatics and other spices. Add in the pureed tomatoes a little at a time as you stir and mix into the paste. Once enough added finish off adding in the rest of the tomatoes. Now stir in the lime juice. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Add in the cream slowly on a low heat stirring all the time. Add in the butter and stir still melted and fulling combined in the sauce. Allow this to simmer for a few more minutes. At the very end add the two spices listed below. Serve over rice and chicken tikka (or really anything you like)

Finishing spices (add these once the sauce is essentially done, turn off the heat, pop the lid on and leave 5 minutes):

1 tsp each of ground cumin and garam masala