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Kalmi kebab chicken drumsticks

Roopa Gulati's kalmi kebab, a North Indian favourite: Halal chicken drumsticks marinated in cashew paste, yogurt, cream, ginger, garlic, turmeric and spices, roasted in hot ghee and finished under the grill.

Indian · Main · Easy · 12 drumsticks · 115 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The kebab is 12 chicken drumsticks, which are Halal only from Halal-slaughtered birds, and the marinade uses strained Greek yogurt, which needs a gelatin check.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Chicken drumsticks: Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides, and chicken without a Halal mark doesn't say how the bird was slaughtered. Buy the chicken from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.
• Strained Greek yogurt: Plain yogurt is milk fermented with cultures, but gelatin turns up in set, low-fat and dessert yogurts. Choose a yogurt with no gelatin on the label. See Yogurt.

Ingredients

Marinade

• 75 g cashew nuts
• 1 lemon, juiced, plus wedges to serve
• 150 g strained Greek yogurt (no gelatine)
• 50 g ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 8 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• ½ tsp carom seeds (ajwain), optional
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ¾ tsp cracked black peppercorns
• 50 ml double cream

Chicken

• 12 Halal chicken drumsticks, skinned
• 50 g (or 75 ml oil) ghee, or sunflower oil
• 1 small red onion, cut into rings

Method

1. Soften the cashews. Cover the cashews with boiling water and leave for at least 2 hours to soften. Drain and blend until smooth in a small food processor with the lemon juice.
2. Make the marinade. In a large bowl, mix the cashew paste with the yogurt, ginger, garlic, turmeric, chilli powder, carom seeds if using, garam masala, cumin, black pepper and cream.
3. Marinate. Make 2 or 3 slashes in each drumstick with a sharp knife and coat them in the spiced yogurt. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours, or overnight if you have time.
4. Heat the fat. Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan, gas 7). Put the ghee or oil in a large roasting tin and heat it in the oven until really hot.
5. Roast. Lay the chicken in the tin in a single layer, spoon half the marinade over and roast for 15 minutes. Turn the drumsticks, spread over the rest of the marinade and roast for 15 minutes more, until the juices run clear when pierced.
6. Grill and serve. Heat the grill to its hottest setting and grill the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes until browned. Move to a serving dish, scatter with the onion rings and serve with lemon wedges.

Allergens

nuts (cashews), milk (yogurt, cream, ghee)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Chicken drumsticks with cashew & turmeric (kalmi kebab)' by Roopa Gulati, which calls it a North Indian favourite (serves 6: 75 g cashew nuts soaked in boiling water at least 2 hours, drained and blended smooth with the juice of a lemon; mixed with 150 g strained Greek yogurt (or regular Greek yogurt), 50 g finely grated ginger, 8 crushed garlic cloves, ½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, ½ tsp carom seeds (optional), 1 tsp each garam masala and ground cumin, ¾ tsp cracked black pepper and 50 ml double cream; 12 skinned drumsticks slashed 2 or 3 times, coated and marinated in the fridge 1 to 2 hours or overnight; oven at 220°C (200°C fan, gas 7) with 50 g ghee or 75 ml sunflower oil heated in a large roasting tin; the chicken laid in one layer with half the marinade spooned over and roasted 15 minutes, turned, the rest of the marinade spread over and roasted 15 minutes more until the juices run clear; grilled on the hottest setting 3 to 4 minutes until browned; served with red onion rings and lemon wedges). We specified Halal drumsticks and flagged the yogurt's label; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: a roast chicken, not the finished dish from this recipe.