‘Butter Chicken’ Grilled Chicken Thighs

As you might know if you’ve reading my blog for long enough, I adore a good curry. Butter chicken is one of my favourites. But the problem with living in Pretoria is that you are almost guarenteed that from September it’s going to be hot, hot, HOT! There are days where the weather plays along and it’s beautiful and mild but last week, we experienced a heat wave like I’ve never experienced. I would sleep with wet towels on me with the fan blowing on me. If I didn’t, I would wake up to a soaked pillow. This heat wave doesn’t exactly go hand-in-hand with a good curry, not in my books anyway. I know in Durban where it gets even hotter the people eat curries day in and day out, but when it’s hot and humid, I want cooling and refreshing flavours.

But as always, my craving got the better of me and I had to figure out a way to work the curry flavours I was after into something that’s a little more ‘summer-friendly’. Enter, the Butter Chicken flavoured grilled chicken thighs. I have to say, this is one of my favourite ideas I’ve ever had. I love how you get the rich aroma that butter chicken lends but you have that delicious ‘grilled’ flavour as well.

I served the chicken thighs with steamed rice to mop up the juices from the chicken and a fresh green salad. It was absolutely delicious!

Serves 4

Butter chicken marinade
1 onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves
3cm piece of ginger, sliced
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika (I used a smoked one)
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tin peeled/cherry tomatoes
2 cups Greek yoghurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted butter

8 chicken thighs
steamed rice, to serve
salad, to serve

1. You can cook the chicken in the oven or on the braai, I prefer the oven.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 200°c. Place a wire rack over a roasting tray.
3. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a blender/food processor and blend until you are left with a smooth and rich marinade.
4. Make deep slits into the chicken and rub the marinade all over the chicken, pushing it into the slits.
5. Place the chicken on the wire rack and pour the marinade over.
6. Place into the oven and allow to roast for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is just cooked.
7. Put the grill of your oven on and allow the chicken to grill for 10 minutes until  the skin starts to blacken.
8. Remove from the oven and serve with the juices that have collected at the bottom of the pan with rice and salad.