Baked Chicken Thighs With Ginger Thyme And Yogurt Food

ROASTED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH GARLICKY CUCUMBER YOGURT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Season chicken generously with the salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine 3 of the grated garlic cloves, thyme or oregano, red-pepper flakes and olive oil. Add chicken and lemon wedges, and toss until well coated. (If you want to work ahead, you can refrigerate the chicken for up to 12 hours before roasting.)
• Arrange chicken and lemons on a sheet pan in a single layer. Drizzle with a little more oil and roast until chicken is cooked through, 27 to 35 minutes. If you'd like more color on your chicken, run the pan under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes until chicken is lightly charred in places.
• As the chicken roasts, stir together yogurt, grated cucumber and remaining minced garlic clove in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.
• To serve, squeeze roasted lemon wedges all over chicken, and sprinkle with mint and more red-pepper flakes, if you like. Serve chicken accompanied by cucumber-yogurt sauce and a drizzle of olive oil over everything.

YOGURT BAKED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place chicken breasts into a baking dish in a sigle layer.
• In a small bowl, combine the seasonings, green onions, lemon juice, and yogurt.
• Pour the yogurt/seasoning mixture over the chicken breasts, turning them over to coat well with the yogurt mixture.
• For best results, cover and chill for a few hours to allow flavors to blend.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the chicken and bake for 1 hour or until chicken is done.

YOGURT-BRAISED CHICKEN LEGS WITH GARLIC AND GINGER

Steps:

• Generously season chicken legs all over with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over medium. Arrange chicken legs in pot skin side down (you want them to fit snugly) and cook, lifting up once or twice to let hot fat run underneath, until skin is golden brown and crisp, 10-15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate, placing skin side up.
• Reduce heat to medium-low and add head of garlic, cut sides down, and ginger to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until ginger is starting to brown and curl around the edges and garlic is golden, about 4 minutes. Add coriander, cumin, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in turmeric followed by 2 cups yogurt and mix until smooth; season with salt.
• Nestle legs back into pot, skin side up, in a single layer and add water just until legs are almost submerged with skin barely peeking out. Bring to a very gentle simmer, adjusting heat if needed, and cook, uncovered, until meat is very tender and just about falling off the bone, 75-90 minutes (the yogurt will separate and look curdled, which is fine). Let cool 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, finely grate remaining garlic clove into a small bowl. Add remaining 1 cup yogurt and stir to combine; season with salt and pepper.
• Smear yogurt mixture across a platter and scatter chickpeas over. Carefully transfer chicken legs to platter. Using a large spoon or small ladle, skim off bright yellow fat that has collected on surface of braising liquid and drizzle all over platter (it's okay if some rogue spices make it onto platter). Top with scallions and mint, then squeeze lime wedges over.

ROASTED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH LEMON, THYME AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Pat chicken thighs dry and place, skin side up, in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place in refrigerator, uncovered, for 8 hours or overnight to dry skin. Remove chicken from refrigerator at least 45 minutes before cooking.
• Heat oven to 500 degrees. Spread onion slices and garlic cloves in a baking dish that can hold the chicken snugly in a single layer. Scatter lemon on the onion-garlic mixture and strew with thyme and rosemary sprigs.
• Remove chicken from baking sheet and place on several layers of paper towels, skin side down. Sprinkle with half the salt and pepper. Turn thighs over and season with remaining salt and pepper. Transfer to the baking dish skin side up. Use your hands to arrange the bed of onions and garlic so they're completely under the chicken.
• Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife point. If skin is not a deep golden brown and crispy, turn on broiler and broil chicken close to heat a few minutes to crisp and brown it.
• To serve, move chicken off the bed of onions, garlic, lemon and herbs. Discard lemon and spoon the rest of the ingredients, along with pan juices, onto a serving platter. Place chicken on top and serve.

GINGER CHICKEN

Steps:

• Slice each chicken thigh into 2 or 3 large chunks, then put in a bowl with the ginger, garlic, chilli powder, half the coriander, lime juice and 1 tbsp of the oil. Stir well, then cover and leave in the fridge to marinate until ready to cook. For the best flavour, do this in the morning or, better still, the night before.
• Peel and quarter the onions, then very finely chop them in a food processor; for a curry you want the onion really fine. Heat the remaining oil in a wok or large frying pan, then add the onion and stir-fry for about 8 mins until soft. Stir in the turmeric and cook for 1 min more, stirring well.
• Tip in the chicken mixture with the marinade and cook over a high heat until the chicken changes colour. Pour in the coconut milk, add the chilli and stock, then cover and simmer for 20 mins until the chicken is tender. Stir in the remaining coriander, then serve with pilau rice, a bowl of mango chutney - we like Geeta's - and some poppadoms or naan bread.