Egyptian Kebabs (Chicken)

This past Friday I was in a used bookshop and found a copy of Craig Claiborne's "The New York Times Cook Book" from 1961. It is chock full of great recipes.

Tonight I cooked Egyptian Kebabs from the NY Times book. Very simple, very yummy. Leslie gave it a 9 out of 10. The recipe:

2 whole chicken breasts (I got about a pound and a quarter)
2 heaping tablespoons yoghurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
teaspoon turmeric
teaspoon dry mustard
teaspoon curry powder
teaspoon cardamom
onion

Cube the chicken. In a mixing bowl, combine yoghurt and the spices. Mix it thoroughly with a spoon. Then, as you're mixing, add the chicken cubes one by one, constantly stirring to coat the chicken. When the chicken is thoroughly coated, cover the bowl (or transfer to plastic container and pop in the fridge for a half hour or so.

While the chicken is chilling, set your oven to broil (or heat your grill). If you're using the oven to broil, get a baking pan and cover with nonstick Reynold's Wrap (I use a bunch of this stuff in the kitchen, it is invaluable). Next, peel the onion and quarter it, then seperate the layers so you have thin sections of onion.

Once the chicken has thoroughly marinated, take it out and get yourself some skewers. Skewer a slice of onion, then a cube of chicken, then an onion slice, then a cube of chicken. Fill up your skewers and lay them on the backing pan. Pop it in the broiler and set your timer for 10 minutes.

At the five minute mark, turn the skewers to cook the chicken evenly. At ten minutes, take the chicken out and see if it's done. It should be, but if the cubes are bigger than average you may have to broil another minute or two.

As I said, Leslie really dug this recipe. I thought it was ok, but I'm not that into yogurt or curry. Whatever.