Yogurt Chicken

Rarely do we have meat. When we do it is usually a whole chicken because they are cheap and I can get at least 4 meals out of one chicken. Sometimes, however, we need a change so we have something exciting like drumsticks or thighs (because they come in large, inexpensive packages so I can just freeze them and thaw only what we will eat for a particular meal). One of the most delicious meals you can make with things like drumsticks is yogurt chicken. This is an Indian inspired dish that is not spicy but very flavorful. I first found this recipe in the book Cooking the Indian Way by Vijay Madavan at our local library while I was looking for books to teach our eldest son about Indian food and culture. Since then I have tweaked it to fit our tastes. Here it what I have come up with:

Yogurt Chicken

6 – 8 pieces of chicken (drumsticks, thighs…)
1 tsp salt
1 cup plain (unsweetened) yogurt
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder
4 Tbsp butter, melted


1. Prick chicken several times with a fork and place in large bowl (preferably with a lid). In a small bowl combine salt, yogurt, ginger, garlic, and curry powder, pour over chicken, cover bowl, and refrigerate for 6 – 8 hours.

2. To cook chicken, preheat oven to 400°F. Pour half of the melted butter in a 13”x9” baking pan. Place chicken in roasting pan and pour yogurt mixture on top. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, reduce heat to 350°F, baste the chicken with the yogurt mixture and pour the remainder of the butter over the chicken. Return to the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until chicken is done, basting about every 10 minutes.

3. To serve, don’t forget to pour the sauce over the chicken (it also helps to have some delicious naan to soak up any remaining sauce).

Makes 8 servings
1600 total calories (200 Calories per serving)