Grilled Parsley-Lime Chicken Skewers

Just like my lamb kebabs, the secret of these succulent and fragrant chicken skewers is the marinade—a glorious, tangy and green flavour base with parsley for its grassy, herbaceous note, and lime for acidity, all rounded out with jalapeños for heat. The trick is to let the chicken sit bathed in the marinade for as long as possible—ideally 2–4 hours. But if you are pressed for time, then set aside ¼ cup of marinade and brush it on while the skewers grill.

Ingredients

4 lbs [1½ kg] boneless, skinless Chicken breasts and thighs, cut into 2-inch-thich pieces
Twelve 10-inch-long Skewers*

Marinade: 

1 cup flat-leaf Parsley (leaves and stalks)
Grated rind of 1 Lime
Juice of 1 Lime
½ small Onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4–5 cloves Garlic, peeled
1-inch piece Ginger, peeled
1 medium Jalapeño
Salt (to taste)
¼ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Put parsley, lime rind and juice, onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapeño in a food processor and grind to a smooth paste. Transfer paste to a mixing bowl, large enough to accommodate the marinade and chicken. 
2. Add remaining marinade ingredients to bowl and stir to incorporate. Add chicken and mix well with marinade. Cover the bowl will plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs, or up to 1 day. Prior to cooking, remove bowl from fridge, thread chicken pieces onto skewers, and bring to room temperature. 
3. Pre-heat a charcoal/gas grill or grill-pan on medium for 25 mins. Turn the heat to high 5 mins before cooking. When the grill surface is smoking hot, add skewers, and let grill on their first side for 3 mins, or until well charred. Then gently turn every 2 mins until the remaining sides are well caramelised. 
4. Remove skewers onto a platter and let sit for 5 mins. Serve drizzled with olive oil and lime juice.

*TIP: If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for ½ hour prior to cooking, to prevent them from singeing on the grill.

Addendum: Fragrant Fennel Chicken

I made the fennel chicken (which I posted a few weeks ago) again last night and tweaked the recipe a bit. The little changes made this recipe go from good to utterly delish. So much so, that I have to make it for my chicken-crazy little sis when she visits New York in June for the ultimate stamp of approval.

So the changes were: Instead of frying whole fennel seeds with onions, I crushed the fennel and added it to the marinade at the begining. I also added 1 tsp of turmeric and 1 tsp of black pepper to the marinade. Other than that, everything else stayed the same. The turmeric really balanced the sweet, licorice-y scent of the fennel and amplified it at the same time. And I still added the black pepper and crushed fennel at the end as before.

Here's the updated recipe:

Ingredients 

4lbs bone-in Chicken pieces (combination of thigh, leg, and breast)
2 tbsp whole fennel seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle (Mouri, in Bengali)
4 tsp ground Coriander
1 tsp ground Cumin
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3-6 tsp Chilli powder (adjust to your taste)
6 tsp Vinegar
6 tbsp Vegetable oil
2 large Onions, sliced
3-4 Bay Leaves
2 tsp crushed Garlic
1 tsp crushed Ginger
Salt (to taste)
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp whole fennel seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle

1. Thoroughly wash and dry chicken pieces and put in a large mixing bowl. Add fennel, coriander, cumin, turmeric, black pepper, chilli powder and vinegar and mix well. Let chicken marinate for 30-45 mins in the fridge. Bring chicken out of the fridge about 20 mins before cooking and let come down to room temperature. 
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until smoking. Add onions and bay leaves, and fry until the onions are golden brown and well caramelised. 
3. Add crushed garlic and ginger and fry for 5 mins. Add a sprinkling of water if it gets too dry and starts to stick to the bottom of the pot 
4. Add chicken and stir well to coat chicken pieces thoroughly with the spices. Add salt and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer uncovered for 30-40 mins. Check the pot occasionally and stir to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. You know it is ready when a thick, glossy gravy coats the chicken pieces. Turn off heat. 
5. Add crushed fennel and black pepper to chicken and stir well. Let sit for 15 mins before serving. 

[serves 4-6]

Fragrant Fennel (Mouri) Chicken

Hubby and I’ve been going through the batch of merguez that I bought a week ago and the predominant flavours of chilli and fennel seeds (Mouri, in Bengali) in the sausage inspired this recipe. The technique of marinating meat in vinegar and spices before cooking, however, is similar to stir-fried Syrian-Christian curries from Kerala in south India.

Ingredients 

4lbs bone-in Chicken pieces (combination of thigh, leg, and breast)
4 tsp ground Coriander
1 tsp ground Cumin
3-6 tsp Chilli powder (adjust to your taste)
6 tsp Vinegar
6 tbsp Vegetable oil
2 large Onions, sliced
2 tbsp whole fennel seeds (Mouri, in Bengali)
3-4 Bay Leaves
2 tsp crushed Garlic
1 tsp crushed Ginger
Salt (to taste)
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp whole fennel seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle

1. Thoroughly wash and dry chicken pieces and put in a large mixing bowl. Add coriander, cumin, chilli powder and vinegar and mix well. Let chicken marinate for 30-45 mins in the fridge. Bring chicken out of the fridge about 20 mins before cooking and let come down to room temperature. 
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until smoking. Add onions, fennel seeds and bay leaves, and fry until the onions are golden brown and well caramelised. 
3. Add crushed garlic and ginger and fry for 5 mins. Add a sprinkling of water if it gets too dry and starts to stick to the bottom of the pot 
4. Add chicken and stir well to coat chicken pieces thoroughly with the spices. Add salt and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer uncovered for 30-40 mins. Check the pot occasionally and stir to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. You know it is ready when a thick, glossy gravy coats the chicken pieces. Turn off heat. 
5. Add crushed fennel and black pepper to chicken and stir well. Let sit for 15 mins before serving. 

[serves 4-6]