Bhatti da Murgh (Indian Grilled Chicken With Whole Spices)

If Melissa Clark adapted thus, her one major omission is removal of skin. If the skin is not removed, then the marinade does not penetrate the meat. Western adaptations that insist on keeping the skin on to keep the chicken juicy lose all the flavor in the meat. However but doing so, you can be super lax about cooking time and temp. The true brilliance is removing the skin. Marinating the meat and still having it be juicy. But not enough detail is provided to help the chef achieve this effect.

I make this with Cornish game hen as spice to flesh ratio is better. I use plain greek yogurt (the marinate is typically made with yogurt cheese). The signature spice of bhatti murg is yellow chilli powder (not red chilli powder)...you can order it online. Otherwise, good recipe!

I substituted low fat buttermilk for the yogurt and it worked well. Delicious!

I think this is wonderful, but I think under-spiced to cater to so called "American" tastebuds. I think that most of those spices (except clove and mace) should be doubled for this dish, based on my following the recipe the first time.

Made this tonight using boneless, skinless chicken breasts halved, a 5 Oz. container of Greek yogurt, no red pepper flakes & used 1/2 Tsp. cayenne pepper which gave enough heat to the mixture. I halved the garlic & ginger & eliminated the salt. I upped the anise & ground cardamom to 1 Tsp. I heated gently in a small saucepan the remaining yogurt mixture & cooked the chicken yogurt spice mixture at 400° turning at 10 minutes/2X in the oven center. Served it with basmati rice & it was delicious.

I haven't tried this yet (will be soon), but the tip in step 1 about popping the joint is brilliant - and I now realise that this is how they always look in Indian restaurants and I had never thought about it! Whole chicken legs (called Marylands here for some reason) are so tasty but indeed difficult to get them thoroughly cooked when grilling.

The article for this recipe is at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/dining/bhatti-da-murgh-recipe.html

Made on both oven and grill, recommend fully cooking in oven then charring on grill to finish off. Layering the butter gets lost on the grill. If you are not using whole spices I definitely recommend doubling your spices. Most preground spices bought in stores are on the older side and lose potency.

Fabulous! To make it kosher, subbed coconut milk for yogurt and coconut oil for butter. Used Ginger and garlic paste. I cooked it in the air fryer at 400F for 35 minutes turning about halfway. The skin was beautiful and crispy, while the chicken was moist and succulent. We had it over basmati rice drizzled with the juices from the tray and stir fried zucchini. Lovely, satisfying dinner.

I, too, added more cardamom, cumin and coriander, about twice as much as called for. I cut off all the skin (can't eat the fat) and cooked the chicken in an iron skillet on top of the stove. I had neither garam masala nor some of the other spices (clove, mace, fennel), but have to say the chicken was delicious! Yum!

As Jason Carey said, under-spiced. I mostly agree with doubling everything except mace and cloves, but the garam masala is redundant. I grilled it on aluminum foil over charcoal with some wet maple saw dust added for extra smoke flavor. I also increased the yogurt by 50%. After putting the chicken on the grill, I made a simmered sauce with the excess marinade. Great on rice! Additionally, I cut the backbone and ribs out of a whole chicken so I could cook it flat; it cooks evenly that way.

Absolutely delicious, but like many other comments, I doubled the spices for both the rub and the yogurt marinade (except for mace, cayenne, and salt). It works fine with separate drumsticks and thighs, and even breasts if that’s your preference.

I followed the suggestions to use more spice (to double it) because I like certain kinds of heat - but found it too hot - especially the skin. I loved the aroma and flavor - just not the heat. (For comparison - I LOVE Clarke’s chicken with spicy cilantro sauce that uses two kinds of aji - but instead of 3, I use only 1 jalapeno). I should have known -I guess I am one of those with “American tastes”:-)

Outstanding recipe! Searing the chicken before serving is essential, as is the previous contributor's advice to increase the cracked spice component. We served this fiery delight with basmati rice cooked with caraway seeds...an old Austro-Hungarian trick for adding flavor to white rice

A keeper of a recipe. Roasted the chicken in the oven at 425 for 25 minutes and came out perfect, with a delicious crispy skin.