A Grilled Platter

In India, summer is like any other season. It is not a season that we wait for. But here in the US, summer is something to be excited about! Oh, how everybody waits for this season here is not surprising. After all those cold snowy months comes out the sun, bright and shining, and so come out the grills and the barbeques and the parties!

I had never grilled in India, So I was so excited about this whole grilling affair!

First was the difficult question of what type of grill I want...After much thinking and research I settled on an indoor grill pan rather than an outdoor one. The main reason for me was that if I have a stove top grill then I can grill anytime no matter what the season, rain or shine!

Then the next challenge was the recipes , since this would be my first experience in grilling I didn't want to fail at the first shot. So I brought a couple of good grilling cookbooks from the local library and started going through them.

The most important thing that I learned was that it is a common misconception that high heat would somehow speedup your grilling. It will just damage your grillpan. What is important is that you heat your grill pan over medium heat until very hot.To do this place your grillpan on the stove on medium heat and leave it undisturbed for atleast 5 mins.

The next important thing is that the food that you put on the grill pan should be at room temperature. This is particularly important with poultry, meat and seafood.

And always keep in mind that you dont have to turn food on the grill more than once. Let it rest and cook nicely, dont be in a hurry to turn it. This is very important for all those impatient souls ou there like me!

And the last but not the least is the cleaning of the pan itself. Because of all the ridges that it has, the most effective tool for cleaning the grill pan is a hard nylon scrubber, which allows you to reach between those ridges.

This was enough of that grilling gyan, now lets get to cooking, oops I mean grilling!

I used Boneless chicken thighs and an assortment of veggies that I had at hand, like onions, tomatoes and bell peppers.

Also an important step in grilling is the marination, particularly of poultry and meats.

I marinated the chicken in the morning and kept it in the fridge. While the vegetables were coated with the marinade towards evening, just a while before I started grilling.

For Marination I used-

Chicken tandoori masala(Everest brand)

Salt

Black pepper pwdr

Ginger-Garlic paste

Red chilli pwdr

Lime Juice

This is just a basic outline you can determine the quantity of ingredients according to your requirements.

Preheat the grillpan well before you start.

Then place the chicken pieces on the pan and do not turn them for atleast 5 to 8 mins.

Drizzle them with some oil.

When the flesh is ready to be turned it will lift off the pan easily.

Turn and cook them on the other side and again pour some oil.

Remove them from the pan when they are fully cooked and tender.

Similarly grill the vegetables, but they wont require as much time as the meats.

You can use Paneer, mushrooms and potatoes too.

Serve hot with lemon wedges.