Spicy Tandoori Chicken Wing Easy Super Bowl Appetizer

When travelling the healthy high road, every now and then, one approaches a dip, and boy do I have the perfect dip for you.  This past Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday, a football celebration, and a day of greasy chips, dips, fried foods and pizza. A day crammed with sausage, cheese, nachos and bacon anything,  I had to come up with a recipe that was whole, tasty and hearty too.  I did not want to be leaving the party with a four pound weight gain and I knew I needed something to satisfy a group of hungry men.  No wimpy salad would work today.  I decided to make some spicy chicken wings and invented a tangy yogurt cilantro dip to replace the traditional bleu cheese or ranch dressing.

Tandoori means "of the tandoor" which is a type of middle or south east Asian  wood or charcoal oven that gets very hot, often used to cook chicken or bread. For this recipe, I used a premixed tandoori spice blend called Sun Brand Tandoori Powder Merwanjee Poonjiajee & Sons Private LTD. This spice mix contained Cayenne Pepper, Ginger, Granulated Garlic, Coriander, Salt, Paprika and other spices. There was a recipe on the side of the container, however I did my own thing..

3 pounds cut up chicken ( I used 2 pounds wings and one pound of legs)

1 cup plain yogurt ( I like Brown Cow organic, plain , cream top

3 Tablespoons tandoori powder 

juice from 2 limes

1/8 cup sesame oil

1 teaspoon EACH sea salt and black pepper

Mix everything except chicken in small bowl.  It will be gritty, set aside.  Take chicken and score two to three times on each side.  This will allow the flavor to penetrate the meat.  

Take enough warm water to cover chicken, and add  1/2 cup salt, mix until dissolved.  Do not use hot water or the outside of chicken will start to cook.  Make sure you use purified or filtered water.  Put chicken in warm salt water and let sit for 20 minutes.  This will give the chicken a good flavor.

Take chicken out of water and pat dry.  Put chicken into large bowl and pour tandoori spice mixture on top.  Use your hands to mix to ensure that each piece is well coated, make sure it gets into all the slit marks as well.

Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.

When ready to cook,  preheat oven to 350 degrees, place chicken pieces 1-2 inches apart on a foil covered baking sheet.  Make sure to use the kind with little edges so any grease does not spill into the oven. Cook for 35-45 minutes or until done, but still tender, turning once while cooking.

This recipe can be adjusted to taste.  If you like it spicier add more tandoori powder, if less spice is preferred, then use less powder.

Serve with creamy yogurt cilantro dip.

1 bunch Cilantro

1 1/2 cups plain organic yogurt

juice of one lime

1 teaspoon sea salt

Put cilantro in food processor and chop until very fine. Add remaining ingredients and chop/pulse until well mixed.  Serve with Spicy Tandoori Chicken Wings.

And remember, no matter which team is losing the game, you can be a winner as long as you are eating Whole Tasty Food!