# tikka hens........



## chefrob (Apr 9, 2010)

for those who are not familiar with "tikka" it is similar to tandori spice but much hotter! tikka masala is more of a "gravy" dish served over plain rice. tikka bbq is much spicier and the flavors are more pungent and can stand up to a service like i did with the smoked onion rice and smoked curried garlic hummus.

first i brined the game hens with salt and sugar. i normally don't use sugar but with the amount of spice i will be using it will go nicely and it gives a great color to the skin. i then make the tikka marinade that has ginger, garlic, lemon and lime juice, olive oil and the tikka spice mix. i then marinated them for 2 hours working the marinade under the skin. i then used a simple trussing method i learned from jacques pepin a long time ago and smoked them for aprx 2 hours with pecan until done.



as for the rice i smoked 1 onion with olive oil and some "seekh kabab" spice.....this stuff is hot and has a cardimon/cumin thing going on. i sauteed basmatti rice with the smoked onions, mushrooms and a little more of the kabab spice and added chicken broth and simmered. the rice picked up the sweetness as well as the smoke from the onions. for me this was the surprise component of the dish......it was very good!


for the hummus......i used a premade one but it was not what you would get from your local grocery store. i had to get it from some dudes that don't speak very good english and can ride a magic carpet! i smoked the garlic with some curry mix and olive oil until it was very soft and dark. i then mashed it up into a paste with the olive oil and salt and added it to the hummus. i never hd a smokey hummus before and this was damn good!


as for the dish, all three components worked very well together and kept their separate identities which sometimes doesn't always happen in middle eastern/indian cooking. i had an indian friend over and he thought it was one of the best dishes he has had here in the states as wall as in india.


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## caveman (Apr 9, 2010)




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## scpatterson (Apr 9, 2010)

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!


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## jak757 (Apr 9, 2010)

Rob -- wow, that is an amazing meal!  I knew I loved it when I saw the picture in the throw down post.  The details on how you put it together confirmed my first impression.  

Thanks for sharing how you made this.


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## mama's smoke (Apr 9, 2010)

Oh ChefRob.  This looks delicious.  Was the onion already diced when you smoked it, and can you give me any other details about how that was done: temp., time, doneness?


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## mballi3011 (Apr 9, 2010)

Yes you are one heck of a chef there Rob. I really like your choices of meals too. But then like I told Rich I'm gunning for you two so. Keep up the good work and I'll be seeing you next month.


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## ak1 (Apr 9, 2010)

That looks great. If it tasted half as good as it looked, it was fantastic!


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## chefrob (Apr 9, 2010)

the pic is right before it went into the smoker, i usually just cut the onion in half and rub with olive oil but this took on much more smoke flavor. i smoked it for almost 2 hours @225-250 until nice and soft, then i just used it like i would diced onion.

LOL! i will be out of next month's.......i like to alternate. i'm just glad i can inspire someone to push their creative side in the kitchen. thx!

and thx all for the coments and suport!


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## athabaskar (Apr 9, 2010)

That is some awesome looking Indian food. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Have you tried jasmine rice? It's  sort of perfumey in a sense. No other rice tastes like it.


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## bcfishman (Apr 9, 2010)

Holy Crapoli!

That is one hell of a spread there.

I am very impressed and think it is awesome the work you put into that dish. It shows how much you love cooking and also how much the throwdowns mean to some people.

When I have the money to actually do a few things and make them look good, I will be entering them as well.

Kudos and points.


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## werdwolf (Apr 9, 2010)

Nicely done and at least the hens are on the to do list.


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## treegje (Apr 9, 2010)

Man that is Yummy looking' eats







That had to be good


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## meateater (Apr 9, 2010)

Great looking dish, I need to shop my foreign specialty places more often.


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## chefrob (Apr 10, 2010)

thats what i use for fried rice.......it does have a unique flavor but it also doesn't clump up.

that's where the good stuff is and is usually very reasonably priced as well.


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## ak1 (Apr 10, 2010)

I love the specialty stores. Good stuff, and a hell of a lot cheaper than the normal Grocery chain stores.


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## roller (Apr 10, 2010)

Nice !!!!!


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## forktender (Jul 3, 2010)

Damn !.............Nice Que !!!!

Question does that tikka spice have curry in it ? reason I ask is I can't eat curry.

We have a place in town that sells tikka spiced whole rotisserie chickens , I freak'in love that spice !

I have heard that some tikka spices do have curry in their mix..............yuk I hate curry......LOL

DING......DING ............DING ............we have a knock out !

Your plateing is unreal.............The one thing my cooking is lacking is the plateing. You my friend have it down to a science !


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