Chicken Tandoori

So I realized that, if I made tandoori before next week, I'd have too many leftovers haunting my fridge while I'm out this weekend. Typically, I just eat what's around - sometimes a bowl of cereal - on Thursday nights, since my children go over to their grandmother's with their father. But I thought, this time, I'll cook a full dinner, just for me. I still have lunch today and tomorrow to make a good try at using up that potato soup and the ice box soup I've got in the works. Besides, I don't know if you can freeze a yogurt marinade like you can the oil-and-vinegar variety, else I'd just put it together and pop it in there to eat next week.

There was a time when I wouldn't worry too much about these sorts of things - but I made a New Year's resolution to learn not to waste so much food. I used to live in perpetual anxiety over running out of food; time to shift my focus towards wasting it instead, I thought.

So here's the tandoori recipe I'm using, taken from my boyfriend's copy of Country Wisdom & Know-How, the same book I learned to make the yogurt from. (Incidentally, I left the powdered milk out of this batch of yogurt, and to tell the truth, I don't see very much difference at all. So, no more powdered milk from now on!)

The original recipe says to marinate the chicken for "24 hours, or as time permits." Since I made this decision this morning - just now, in fact - my time permits from now till about four o'clock. That's only six hours, but I think it'll still be tasty. It also calls for 2 cloves of garlic, but I had some minced in my fridge - the farmers have been out of local garlic for some time now. Instead of half a small onion, I chopped up some ramps, for obvious reasons of overabundance.



Chicken Tandoori

3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 ramps, white parts and stems, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon canola oil
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
½ a chicken

Combine everything but the chicken. You're supposed to cut up the chicken, but I left it halved. You're also supposed to skin it and cut slits into it, which I meant to do, but forgot because I was in a hurry. Whoops. Maybe I'll skin it before cooking and baste it a bit. At any rate, put it all in a bag or a baking dish to marinate, making sure all its sides are coated. Refrigerate it for 24 hours if you have the time.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chicken for an hour and a half or so, or until tender.