Kris
In the past, I’ve been more than happy to pass the grilling responsibilities onto James. I figure that I do a vast majority of the cooking, so asking him to be in charge of grilling was only fair. (James, being an incredibly agreeable husband, has never had an issue with this assumption.) But now that he’s back at the hospital for 60+ hours a week, I’ve lost my grillmaster! It’s not that I haven’t grilled things before in the past–it’s just that I’m lazy and I don’t prefer to and I dislike smelling like smoke and man, that grill is so hot and stuffy… the list of excuses goeth on. But when the craving for chicken kebabs came rolling in, I had to suck it up and become my own grillmaster.
We have a communal grill at our apartment complex, and I had never used it before… so my attempts at lighting the propane gas were an embarrassing comedy of errors. I was keenly aware of the people walking around the common area; while I’m sure they were just carrying on with their lives, my eyes kept darting up to them as they walked by. Do they know? Can they tell how much I suck at this? And I think there was a part of me that hoped they could sense the increasing waves of desperation. Somebody put me out of my misery and tell me what I’m doing!
Thankfully, I was able to get the grill going after a few minutes of struggle (I kept trying to light the side of the grill that was broken–figures!) and life was beautiful… and I was redeemed!
All of that (self-imposed) drama aside, these kebabs were the first thing I grilled on my own–and they were completely worth the embarrassment. The yogurt marinade is so flavorful and really helps the chicken from drying out. The combination of paprikas, along with the coriander and cumin, adds complexity to the tangy flavor of the yogurt and make these kebabs absolutely addicting.
You can absolutely make these kebabs with chicken breast meat if you like, but I prefer chicken thighs. They’re a bit more work since you have to trim fat and fascia, but they dry out much less easily and their flavor is more concentrated.
Well, enough of my chatter. Get to it, fellow grillmasters!
