By John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger
- Total Time
- About 45 minutes
- Rating
- 4(257)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Chicken thighs meet with a mellow mix of Indian spices and are grilled into weekend dinner excellence. In Indian cooking, most spices are toasted before they’re used, a process that brings up their aromatics and mellows and rounds their flavors. Here they’re then rubbed onto chicken thighs and grilled, which gives them an additional smokiness that pairs beautifully with the tomato-and-cucumber relish.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1teaspoon cracked cumin seeds
- 1teaspoon cracked coriander seeds
- 1teaspoon cracked mustard seeds
- 1medium tomato, diced small
- 1cucumber, peeled and seeded if desired, diced small
- 1teaspoon minced fresh chile pepper of your choice
- ½cup fresh lemon juice
- 1tablespoon sugar
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1tablespoon ground ginger
- 1tablespoon chile powder
- 1tablespoon curry powder
- 8bone-in chicken thighs, about 8 ounces each
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
761 calories; 54 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 23 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 54 grams protein; 1340 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Build a fire in your grill; when the coals are all covered with gray ash and the temperature is medium-hot (you can hold your hand 5 inches above the coals for 3 to 4 seconds), you are ready to cook. (For a gas grill, turn all burners to high, lower cover and heat for 15 minutes, then turn burners to medium-high.)
Step
2
While fire heats, make the relish: In a small sauté pan, toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and mustard seeds over medium heat, shaking frequently to avoid burning, until they begin to darken slightly and you can smell them. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, then combine in a medium bowl with the tomato, cucumber, chile pepper, lemon juice, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently to combine and set aside.
Step
3
In the same small sauté pan, toast the turmeric, ginger, chile powder and curry powder over medium heat, shaking frequently to avoid burning, until mixture begins to darken slightly and you can smell it. Remove from heat, and allow to cool slightly.
Step
4
Sprinkle chicken generously with salt and pepper, then rub toasted spices all over it, pressing gently so they adhere.
Step
5
Put the thighs on the grill directly over the coals, skin down, and cook until skin is crisp, about 8 minutes. Flip and cook 6 to 8 minutes. Thighs are done when a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees. Remove from heat and serve with the relish.
Ratings
4
out of 5
257
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Cooking Notes
Susanne
Sam--when you say to use cracked seeds (cumin, etc.), what does that mean? Just to smash them up a bit with a mortar and pestle?
Joan K.
This is a very nice recipe, quite flavorful and quick to make. As a side benefit, I made extra relish and ate drained spoonfuls on warmed up, leftover grilled Naan spread with Greek yoghurt as a snack the next day. Drippy, but wonderful!
Keith
Really good if you like Indian cuisine which I do. The spiciness is the multiple tastes, not spicy hot. The timing on the recipe doesn't quite work. Using the recommended times on a really good hard wood fire, the skin was perfect but the meat would have been slightly undercooked. Suggest either finishing with indirect cooking away from the flames or cover grill towards the end to finish the internal cooking.
NYT Cooking
Just roast it in a 450-degree oven, flipping the thighs a few times.
Chef Carlos
Tasty Indian chicken dinner, liked the relish, it went perfectly with the spices in the chicken. Make sure to cook the chicken all the way and very crispy.
Es
Chicken was very moist and flavorful. I loved using such a variety of spices. And the relish was delicious with the chicken and accompanying rice. I used just a pinch of sugar.
Vietnam1971
IMO a half cup of lemon juice is too much by half. I squeezed 2 lemons to get the half cup. Next time I will use just one.
Vietnam1971
Cut the lemon juice by half.
Condiment queen
Double tomato and cucumber, halve lemon and sugar
Rahul
Not very good. I think the spice amounts for the chicken are kind of out of whack. The sugar in the tomato relish was really off putting - I thought it tasted better before I added it (as I had a sneaking suspicion it wouldn’t work and it didn’t). All in all a pretty big miss.
Nancy R
Another excellent recipe from NYT. I cut down on the lemon juice a bit. The relish was flavorful with a fun crunch from the spices. I grilled the chicken, as well as some tofu sprinkled with the spice mixture. Flavors all went together well.
Anita
The cucumber/tomato relish needs its own listing. The chicken was very good, but faces fell when guests realized that the cucumber tomato relish was all gone. Willoughby and Schlesinger are masters of flavor who deserve more recognition and more space in the NYT recipe archive.
Margaret
Haven’t made the chicken yet, but have made the relish several times. Excellent! Balanced, bright flavor and great on toast.
Michael
I add 1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper to chicken rub and serve with side dish of basic yoghurt sauce: 1 c no fat Greek yoghurt, 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
marnie
Cooked in the oven at 450. Turned a few times and it was perfect. Doubled the spices for chicken. Added some cayenne to relish as I thought needed a kick.
de2r
Didn't have all the spices, so substituted freely. This didn't really suffer from the change; a bit less Indian and a bit more Spanish, but still very good. Smoked pimenton ended up being the dominant flavor, which worked very well. I'd stick with the pimenton even if I have the right spices next time.
The accompanying salsa is nice. Not a mandatory addition, but pleasant & dresses it up a bit on the plate.
Jamie
This was great. I added some Garam Masala and Harissa to the chicken rub and put it on a spatchco*cked chicken, grilled it up, delicious! Didn't even pr-brine and it was yummy. The salad was a perfect foil for the chicken, cool, yet slightly spicy. I got rave reviews. Will definitely be doing this again.
Ann
Made as directed, although rubbed the chicken with the spices earlier in the day and refrigerated. As mentioned in other notes, it could benefit from a slightly longer cooking time to cook through to the bone. I really loved the relish--will definitely make in larger amounts as a salad this summer.
Leskap19
Very easy rub for the chicken. Turns out very flavorful but not spicy. Highly recommend it.
PaulineN
I finished in the oven at 400 instead of cooking on the grill, and it was a big hit with all. Spooned the relish on top, we all loved it.
I will pack the leftovers for lunch at work, and make this one again.
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