Masala Chicken Drumsticks

Suril: "You should add a blurb for your posts, those are more fun to read".

I can always count on him to tell me what's up :)  So as you can see I have been better about updating my blog these days! Wooo! Life has calmed down a bit after my brief San Francisco stint- which by the way, if you're a foodie and haven't been.... book a trip to SF straight away!  I have never had so many consecutive delicious dinner and lunch outings as I did there.  Maybe it's just that we did a lot of research and had great recommendations from friends who live out there, but I really think SF tops my list in best cities for foodies.  It was a nice break from cooking, but it definitely inspired me to cook more once I got back to DC :)

I've also had a sudden surge of interest in cooking Indian food.  I was hoping to restart my blog with a biryani recipe, but I'm still in the midst of perfecting my recipe and will share once I've reached a satisfactory point of.... perfection!  Instead I decided to create a sort of Tandoori Chicken recipe... sans the tandoor masala (which I didn't have unfortunately).  This is just as delish though and definitely worth trying if you're in the mood to try something different with chicken drumsticks!

Masala Chicken Drumsticks

Prep time: 10 minutes (minus the marinating time) |  Baking time: 40 minutes + 4 minutes broiling

Ingredients:

• 6-8 Skinless Chicken Drumsticks
• 1/2 Cup Yogurt
• 1 Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 2 Tbsp Garam Masala or Kitchen King Masala
• 1/4 Cup Chopped Mint
• 1 tsp Chili Powder
• 1 tbsp Paprika
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Oil

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix the yogurt, ginger garlic paste, masala, mint, paprika and chili powder well together.
2. Add as much salt as you like and mix in the yogurt mixture, I added about 3 teaspoons.
3. Cut small slits into the chicken drumsticks (it helps the chicken soak in more of the marinade)
4. Add the drumsticks to the bowl of the yogurt marinade and mix really well until all sides of the chicken are coated with the yogurt and basically submerged into the marinade.
5. Store the bowl covered with saran wrap in the fridge overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
7. Place the chicken drumsticks spread out on a greased 13 x 9 inch pan
8. Bake the drumsticks for 40 minutes, turning them over half way through.  Ensure that the chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
9. If they are not golden brown after 40 minutes, turn the oven setting to Broil and broil the chicken for about 2-4 minutes (please keep checking on the chicken every minute to make sure they don't burn).
10. Serve hot!