Mom's Dinner

I had the parents over for dinner yesterday, in honor of Mother's Day.  It's always a challenge to do this, because my mom is such an amazing cook.  I tend to feel as though the only way to serve them a meal at the calibre that they're used to, I need to cook something that she hasn't made before.

I had something in mind but wasn't entirely settled on it.  Then, on Friday night I happened upon a recipe for Tandoori Chicken.  It called my name.

Credit Goes to the Budget Bytes Blog for this recipe.  And while I'm confessing, I'll say that most of the Indian Food that I've eaten has been made in my kitchen.  This tasted good, but I can't necessarily speak to the authenticity.

Tandoori Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless Chicken Breast halves, no skin
Yogurt, plain 1 cup
Onions, raw, 1 chopped finely
Garlic, 4 cloves. minced
Ginger Root, 7 tsp (2" root, grated)
Lemon Juice from 2 lemon
Salt, .5 tsp
Garam Masala, 2 tbsp
Paprika, 1 tsp
Cayenne Pepper, 1/2 tsp
Ground tumeric, 2 tsp

Cut chicken into long strips (about six per chicken breast). Mix in a bowl and let marinate in the fridge overnight. Thread 2-3 chicken strips onto each of skewers.
Heat grill to high. Cook each skewer 3 minutes on each side.  Serves 4.

I doubled her recipe but omitted doubling the ginger (I didn't have enough).  It was good, but if you want more of a kick, you might want to double the ginger... I probably will.

I served this with the curried brown rice, quinoa and lentil mix that I wrote about a while back, and had steamed asparagus and carrots on the side.  My only suggestion would be that next time I would double the marinade.  When the chicken was done marinating, I took what was left and heated it on the stove - it was great sauce for both dipping and for over the pilaf.