Signature BBQ chicken

You should be familiar with times when you DON'T want to follow a recipe meticulously...you feel vaguely confident that it may turn out well and you're not risking your time, effort and money. for our BBQ night i did exactly this. i had the solace: well, it's finally going to be bbqed. our major chunk of it was chicken coz we're familiar with it and not expensive as fish and beef is a no-no in most Indian communities except among Christians. ah i have to note down here that Hindu women don't like their men biting into this meat though most of the men concerned here can die for it. so the whole thing is a little delicate (you know the way women bring in the delicateness) and we completely abstain from beef preparations in a mixed crowd. and the chicken here (3/4 kg; can't remember why 3/4 now) was marinated with

coriander powder and chicken masala-1 tbsp each
brown sugar-1 tbsp
ground ginger-1 tsp
sunflower oil-1 tbsp plus extra for cooking
honey, BBQ sauce, 8 to 8 sauce, pepper, fish fry masala and lemon (all of which was an antaaza; so don't ask me now how much of it)



mix all together in a bowl and lovingly (anyone reminded of the Chicken Soup Series, boy) smear the chicken pieces with it. men...duty calls....relish it when it's still hot.

Herb and Garlic Prawns

I CANNOT get enough of this high-cholesterol beauty!! i can binge on it. i still remember with nostalgia the delicious baked prawns cooked by an elderly lady from Korea. they were so good and it's only the fear of falling sick (coz they're actually dicey) that made me stop myself. i love the prawns biryani my mom makes and the Kerala preparation my mum in law does. my mouth waters coz i've been restricted from prawns intake in this my confinement period.

So when thomas' frens came over to stay in goa with us in the pleasant month of January we decided to have a BBQ night. and let me tell you i don't know what got into me but in my third month of pregnancy i invaded my kitchen in a frenzy. i cooked and cooked and cooked. and i offered to do the major chunk of marination. i was doing prawns for the first time and i followed a recipe with some moderation from a book called Practical Barbecue. it was a huge success and Rana (thomas fren) refused to share it with anyone! i got a bite or two :)

Here goes the recipe.

prawns-350 gm
fresh parsley-1 tbsp
fresh coriander-2 tbsp
lemon juice-4 tbsp
olive oil-2 tbsp
butter-5 tbsp
garlic cloves-2 chopped
any fish fry masala-1-2 tbsp (depending on how spicy you want it)
salt and pepper



Place the prepared prawns in a non-metallic dish with the parsley, coriander, lemon juice, fish fry masala, salt and pepper. leave the prawns to marinate in the herb mixture for at least 30 mins.
Heat the oil and butter with the garlic until the butter melts. stir to mix thoroughly.
With a slotted spoon remove the prawns from the marinade and add them to the pan with butter/garlic. stir the prawns into the garlic butter until well coated and thread them onto the skewers and barbecue (my job was only marination; BBQing was a stag affair :)



Once the kebabs are served onto the plates drizzle over any remaining garlic butter. (Obviously i used a larger quantity as indicated in the photo.) it was out-of-the-world.