Tandoori Chicken with Mashed Chickpeas

Tandoori Chicken with Mashed Chickpeas

I am sure that you are all aware of how generous our fellow food bloggers are. Not only are they generous with their support, heartfelt actions and encouraging comments, but, sometimes there are bonuses involved as well. I have been the recipient of not 1 but 5 books. Just before Christmas I won Rachel Ray's latest venture the Big Orange Book. This book was generously contributed by one of the Canadian Food Network blogs Bazarre .

In my almost 2 years of blogging I have come across many interesting bloggers. One of these would be Cynthia at Diary of a Glad Housewife . Cynthia blogs, cooks and shares her life from Utah in the States. The name "Utah" is derived from the "Ute Indian" language, meaning "people of the mountains". We are both members of the talented group the Barefoot Bloggers which is how we "met". We both received the same cookbook for Christmas, so, decided to collaborate and post a recipe from the book on the same day. Rachael’s Big Orange Book is the ultimate resource for busy cooks. Need kitchen inspiration? It’s all here and it’s all new--and bigger than ever! No matter what you think of RR she does have some good recipes for home cooked and comforting meals. So here Cynthia and I find ourselves cooking Rachel Ray instead of the Barefoot Contessa.



It was hard to choose just one recipe from the book. Previously this week I prepared this dish. This is what I came up with to serve my family this time around. It was easy and quick to prepare in RR style. It did have that Tandoori flavour which usually requires overnight marinating in the yogurt sauce for juicy and tender chicken. This dish would benefit from tenderizing the chicken overnight but it didn't lack in flavour.

**Tandoori Chicken with Mashed Chickpeas & Pepper and Onion Salad**

by Rachel Ray

1 cup Greek yogurt
2 inches grated ginger root
4 cloves garlic, grated, divided
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons coriander
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons plus some for drizzling extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut across in 1/2
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cans chick peas, drained
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup tahini paste
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced or 1/2-inch dice
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced or 1/2-inch dice
Hot banana pepper rings, drained and chopped plus 2 tablespoons juice
Handful fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 lime, juiced, plus 1 lime, for garnish
4 pita breads

Preheat oven to 500 to 550 degrees F, as high as it goes. Cover a baking sheet with foil and set a baking rack on top if you have one - not necessary but use it if ya got it.

Place yogurt in shallow dish and combine with ginger, 3 cloves grated garlic, chili powder, coriander, paprika, turmeric, cardamom, cumin and 2 tablespoons oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and coat in sauce. Arrange on baking sheet and roast 20 to 25 minutes until juices run clear.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 clove grated garlic. Pulse chop the chick peas in food processor then add to garlic oil and season with salt and pepper. Mash with chicken stock and tahini and reduce heat to low.

Combine red onion, bell peppers, chopped hot peppers, to taste, 2 tablespoons hot pepper pickle juice, cilantro leaves, lime juice. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Wedge the remaining lime, reserve. Warm and crisp pitas in hot oven last few minutes chicken is roasting. Serve chicken with lime wedges to squeeze over top. Serve mashed chick peas alongside. Top the chicken with pepper salad. Cut pitas in half and pass at table.

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