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Israeli Grilled Chicken

Sunday with Marlena Spieler

The idea of buying a whole chicken and splitting them into 8 pieces is a challenge for me. Being born in a vegetarian family, that walked a little longer to bypass the fish and meat markets, I have no clue how to cut a whole chicken. Last year,  I practiced cutting a whole chicken before I entered the state fair competition. While I can cut the chicken up now, I am not very good at it. I tried again this time and succeeded in getting my two leg pieces that I wanted and left R to deal with the rest.

I made this  after we had had our dinner on Thursday night, so that we can have this chicken dish for lunch the next day with pita bread. Boy, I made a mistake. We wanted to eat all over again when the house smelled so good with the aromas wafting in the air. We had to taste it. With just a few ingredients, this is one dish your guests will love!

The Israeli version of the barbecued chicken calls for cinnamon and cumin, while the Yemenite recipe calls for cardamom and cumin. I opted for the latter. We are supposed to grill the chicken, but being cold outside that was not an option. I browned the chicken on the stove top and did the rest of the cooking in the oven.

Garlic – 5 cloves

Cumin seeds – 1 T

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Whole Cardamom – 1

Paprika – 2 tsp

Lemon Juice – 1 T

Salt to taste

Chicken legs – 2 pieces with the skin on

Oil – 1 tsp

• In a blender, blend all the ingredients listed above except the chicken.
• Rub the marinade over the chicken and let the chicken sit in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Heat oil in the pan (ovenproof) and when the oil is hot, place both the chicken pieces on the pan and brown it one side, gently turn it over and brown the other side. Takes roughly 6-8 minutes.
• Transfer the pan to the oven and let it cook for another 15 minutes or until it is fork tender.
• We set the oven to broil for the last two minutes.
• Serve hot with pita bread and a light salad.