Bademiya’s Justly Famous Chicken
Anyone who cooks maintains a mental recipe box. Organization methods vary, but it’s safe to say everyone’s box shares the following categories:
-will cook this someday
-delicious but too expensive/work intensive to prepare on a regular basis
-holiday set pieces that cannot be changed
-Wednesday night specials: dull but easily tossed together
-What was I thinking? (i.e. will not repeat)
-recipes you love but forget for months on end
It’s obvious which category Bademiya’s Justly Famous Chicken falls into.
Not only do I forget to make it, I get the recipe title wrong. The correct name of this dish is Bademiya’s Justly Famous Bombay Chile And Cilantro Chicken. The recipe comes from Amanda Hesser’s The New York Times Cookbook, and really does live up to its admittedly long title. You’d think I’d remember it.
Compellingly delicious though it is, Bademiya’s Justly Famous Bombay Chile and Cilantro Chicken is not for the faint of palate. The marinade alone calls for heaping amounts of cumin, cilantro, garlic, and cayenne. Get that going and you’ll be moving right along to the sauce, which involves more cilantro, garlic, cumin, and cayenne. As Hesser writes, “You sweat as you eat it, but it’s hard to stop eating.”
When I posted a photo of Bademiya’s Chicken on Instagram, somebody asked whether I had an asbestos stomach. I do not. Just the opposite. Nevertheless, fiery foods and buckets of rice salve my wonky gut as nothing else. Something about those heady spices and rices (yeah, yeah, rices. But it sound good) gets all the bugs flying in the right direction. Besides, when the world is going to pieces–and friends, things really aren’t looking all that cricket–there is nothing like spicy chicken with rice. And perhaps a cold beer.
A note on the prep: Bademiya’s Chicken calls for much toasting and grinding of ingredients, in turn requiring much washing of food processing and herb grinding implements. Meaning this dish isn’t a Wednesday night special. It takes a little time to prepare. This is not synonymous with difficulty. I’ve noticed people confound the two in the kitchen. And perhaps outside it. Never mind. This is a food blog, not the ramblings of a would-be Robert Pirsig.
Nevertheless, make Bademiya’s chicken when you have time and energy to cook. Leftovers, if you can manage not to inhale the entire batch in one sitting, repay your efforts by improving over time. Extra cilantro sauce is wonderful with rice, flatbreads, in sandwiches, or simply spooned reflexively into your mouth while standing in the kitchen, listening to National Public Radio with mounting horror.
Bademiya’s Justly Famous Chile and Cilantro Chicken
From Amanda Hesser’s New York Times Cookbook
I have made minor alterations to the recipe, which you should read through before cooking.
Serves 2-4 people
The chicken needs to marinate 4-6 hours.
For the chicken:
3-4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (see notes)
For the Marinade:
1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
piece of fresh ginger, roughly one inch by one inch, peeled if you prefer, sliced into pieces your processor can manage
3 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil like peanut, grapeseed, or canola
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper or hot paprika
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (have two lemons handy)
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher or fine sea salt
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped (have two bunches, or 8 ounces, on hand)
For the Cilantro Sauce:
1 cup cilantro leaves
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 fresh hot pepper, seeded or not: see notes
1/2 cup walnuts
1/3-1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (have 3 lemons to hand)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Kosher or fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
water, to loosen the sauce
To serve:
Naan or flatbread
Basmati rice
Lemon or lime slices
You will need a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to make this recipe. You will also need either a blender or a mini-chopper.
Marinate the chicken:
Place the chicken in one layer in an oven-proof dish.
Begin by toasting the coriander, peppercorns, and cumin seeds in small, heavy skillet over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Pay close attention: whole spices burn quickly. Once they’re fragrant, remove them from heat. Grind in coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to powder.
In a mini-chopper or a blender, combine the now-ground coriander, peppercorns, and cumin with the ginger, vegetable oil, water, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, salt, and cilantro. Puree into a paste.
Smear this paste all over the chicken. I find clean hands are best for this, but use a spatula if you are squeamish.
Cover the dish with foil and refrigerate 4-6 hours, but no longer, as the citrus will turn the poultry flesh mushy.
Make the Cilantro Sauce
If you want to make the cilantro sauce immediately and have a dirty mini-chopper, don’t bother washing it.
Combine the cilantro, garlic, hot pepper, walnuts, lemon juice, cumin, salt, and pepper in a mini-chopper or mortar and pestle. Add water if needed to loosen the sauce. Taste; add lemon or salt if you wish.
Scrape into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until serving time.
To finsh the recipe:
About an hour before cooking the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator so it can come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Add enough vegetable oil to the bottom of your baking dish to avoid drying out. Slide the pan into the oven and bake chicken for at least an hour. Chicken is done when a knife slides in without resistance, the poultry juices run clear, and there is no pink at the bone. Total cooking time is one hour to one hour ten minutes, depending on your oven and the size of the chicken thighs.
Serve with the cilantro sauce, Basmati rice, flatbreads, naan, and lemon or lime slices. We like a vegetable platter with this, too–sliced cucumbers, radishes, and when in season, tomatoes.
Refrigerate any leftovers. They are wonderful at any temperature. While you can freeze the chicken, the cilantro sauce would be ruined.
Notes:
The original recipe calls for a 4-pound whole chicken, cut into pieces, or 4 chicken legs. I prefer chicken thighs. I’ve also prepared this dish with whole chickens, which obviously increases cooking time.
Hesser calls for jalapeño pepper in the cilantro sauce. John dislikes jalapeños, so I use about half of a fresh Thai pepper. These are extremely fiery. Use your favorite hot pepper and seed or not, as you wish.
Clean your coffee grinder with dry rice.
Don’t try making the spice paste or cilantro sauce in a food processor. There isn’t enough for the blades to grab, so the machine doesn’t puree the ingredients. You’re left with more to clean.
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