A peachy take on chicken..

While we are more than self-sufficient in summer with our vegetables, but we do not grown enough fruit to meet all our needs, which is just as well. This allows me the joy of being able to go the farmers markets. Well a few weeks back, I came home with these lovely beautiful and ripe peaches. We ate a lot of them and I made a nice peach crisp and I actually used them for a marinade. I though the chicken turned out really nice, deep dense and flavorful! I actually also through in some lemon tyme, which were in my opinion a nice and delicate substitute for carom seeds, I have played with thyme and oregano before as a substitute for carom or ajowain.

Here is how this worked

Peach, Cumin Butter and Lemon Thyme Chicken

Prep Time: 24 hours (to marindade)

Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup lowfat yogurt

2-3 inch piece coarsely chopped peeled ginger

2 pods garlic

3-4 green chilies

3 peaches, peeled and stones

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teapoon fennel seeds

2 teaspoons agave nectar

1 tablespoons lemon tyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon carmon seeds

2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into pieces

To baste and finish

2 tablespoons ghee or butter, melted

1 tablespoon freshly ground cumin

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 teaspoon salt

Method of Preparation

1. Place the yogurt, ginger, garlic, chilies, peaches, salt, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, agave nectar, lemon thyme or ajowain in blender and blend for a good 5 minutes till the mixture is smooth and dense like a good smoothie.

2. Place the chicken and the marinade in a large ziplock bag and keep in the refridgerator overnight. (note on a milder day you can do this outside for about 5-6 hours)

3. Mix the butter or ghee, ground cumin, red chili pepper and salt.

4. Thread the chicken onto skewers.

5. Place on the grill, and brush well with remaining marinade and the butter spice mixture. Cook for 5-6 minutes, turn baste and repeat. By this point the chicken should be moist tender and crisped.

6. Garnish with lemon thyme and serve.

Note: If you do not want to grill, the chicken can be broiled on skewers, drizzled generously with the cumin butter topping. Also, good olive oil would work as a baster.