Oven Baked Chicken With Chickpeas, Ground Cumin and Ground Turmeric
Ground turmeric in a greek yoghurt sauce is both colorful and tasty. I use it in this receipt for the yogurt marinade. In fact I like yogurt in many Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Asian dishes because the acidity in yogurt marinade helps to tenderize the chicken and the yoghurt sugar helps to brown and caramelize the skin as it bakes in the oven.
I also love the wonderful color and sharp, slightly bitter flavor of the ground turmeric in this recipe
Ingredients
- 3 lbs of bone-in, skin-on chicken
- Course ground salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1.5 cups of full-fat Greek yogurt
- 5 tbs lemon juice
- 2 tsps ground turmeric
- 1 large can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 medium cubed sweet potato (1/3 inch cubes)
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced (1/4′ slices)
- 1 tablespoon fennel seed
- 1 tspground cumin
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup mint or cilantro leaves, torn
Preparation
- Season chicken parts with salt and pepper.
- Combine the 3/4 cup of the yogurt, 2 tbs of the lemon juice, 1 tsp of turmeric, cayenne and 2 tablespoons water in a large bowl. Season well with salt and pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat evenly. Let sit at least 30 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cook on the top rack in the top third of the oven.
- Combine chickpeas, fennel seed, cumin, remaining teaspoon of turmeric and half the red onion slices on a shallow baking sheet with a side rim or a glass backing dish. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.
- Arrange the chickpeas, cubed sweet potatoes and bell pepper slices on the outer edges of the baking sheet with chicken parts in the center after. scraping off any excess marinade. Bake, tossing chickpeas occasionally, until the skin of the chicken is evenly browned and the chickpeas are golden and starting to crisp. Usually 45 to 50 minutes.
- Meanwhile, toss remaining onion slices with 2 tablespoons lemon juice and season with salt and pepper; set aside.
- Combine remaining yogurt with remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice and season with salt and pepper; set aside.
- Once chicken is ready, scatter with lemony onions and mint or cilantro. Serve with the seasoned yogurt alongside as a sauce.