Chicken Kebabs with Green Grapes Chutney

I was in the mood for good old Rava Upma for dinner, but D wanted something a little more exotic as it is a weekend dinner. He loves upma but only on weeknights as a simple wholesome meal...

Also, I hadn't thought of anything for AFAM:Grapes event this month hosted by Swapna at Swad. So, I set aside my dreams of Rava Upma with peas and carrots, and decided to make chicken kebabs for D, as well as for AFAM:Grapes :-)

I settled on kebabs as they are quick and easy to make, very light, and satisfying. D liked it because I don't care for chicken so more for him!

To make it interesting, I added grapes to the mix, and served it with green grapes chutney, thus showcasing the AFAM (A Fruit A Month) star of this month. I would have liked to try a dessert or a drink with grapes for this event, but, maybe another time...

Now, it is a bit early in season, and the handful of vines in our garden are very young, but, we did have a little bunch of local Pinot Noir! I was quite thrilled. It was quite tasty... not that we are planning to make our own wines, but, one can dream, right?!

Chicken kebabs are simple: Thaw and marinate boneless skinless chicken breast in a preferred marinade, arrange in skewers with favorite veggies, grill till chicken is done. I used some bell peppers, potatoes, grapes and pearl onions. If using potatoes, preferably par-cook it before grilling. Grilled grapes added a nice sweet-sourness to the kebabs.

Grape Chutney is a version of Sweet-and-Sour chutney. The variety of grapes used and its tartness would determine the proportion of ingredients. I used fairly tart, yet mildly sweet seedless green grapes.

Ingredients
Marinade:
1 tsp tamarind concentrate
½ cup light soy sauce
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp Shatta, an Arabic hot pepper sauce (or any favorite hot sauce)

Green Grape Chutney:
1 cup coarsely chopped green grapes
4-6 green chilies
½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro stems, cleaned
¼ cup white wine* (I used Pinot Grigio as we had it handy)
salt to taste
*optional: I liked to carry the theme of grapes for this AFAM:Grapes event

Preparation

1. Green Grape Chutney:Combine all the chutney ingredients, except the wine, in a blender or food processor and blend to a smooth paste. Pour it into a pan and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, adding the wine if using.
2. Kebabs: Cut the chicken to bite-sized pieces, and marinate it for about 30 minutes. At the same time, soak some bamboo skewers in water. If using vegetables, cut them to bite-sized pieces as well and marinate them separately till ready to assemble the kebabs
3. Assemble the pieces in the bamboo skewers and grill till chicken is done

Chicken Satay

For small batches, just for the family, I prefer to broil in the oven, especially if am making Chicken Satay in winter. Grill gets used more in summer when it is not bitterly cold to be outdoors, and it is superbly hot to be indoors with the oven on.

Broiling time varies depending on the thickness of the strips and the oven. I typically start off with 5 minutes keeping a close watch because if the bamboo skewers get dry and hot they do tend to catch fire in the oven.

1. Marinate some boneless skinless chicken breast tenders for 30 minutes, even upto overnight in the fridge. 
2. Soak some bamboo skewers in water. 
3. Cut the chicken breast tenders into uniformly thin strips.  
4. Carefully threaded the chicken strips in the wet bamboo skewers. 
5. Grill, or Broil, turning the skewers as needed, and cook till chicken is done.

Serve with the Peanut Sauce/Dressing.

Marinade ingredients:
4 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp Agave nectar OR 1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp tamarind juice or lime juice
2-3 garlic cloves crushed finely
1 Tbsp dry red chili flakes
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp grated ginger

As always, adjust the marinade ingredients to suit your taste. I simply throw things together depending on my mood, so, the measurements above are approximate at best:-)

Some grilled or roasted vegetables and pineapple slices would make this a wonderful summer evening meal.

Grilled Vegetables

Roasted or grilled vegetables, especially if they have been marinated in some yummy marinade first, is quite a treat, don't you think? Fresh from the oven or grill, slightly charred or smoky depending on how the vegetables were treated, just a touch of fresh herbs and olive oil...

D offered to make a meal as I had a nasty migraine and my work week was horribly stressful. So, I naturally felt obligated to chop up the vegetables and marinate them :-)

I know, I agree, it is odd that rather than resting and awaiting the meal to be served, I *had* to get it "ready" first...

Now, ordinarily, D is fully capable of chopping, marinating and grilling the vegetables all by himself. But, when he throws a trap like, "Oh, your marinade is very good and you get them all neat and pretty", I fall for it completely and end up doing all the "prep" work. Despite the nasty headache...

Anyway, I guess it was worth it as the vegetables turned out just perfect and we had a nice meal... and my headache? well, it lingered overnight and reluctantly left me the next day.

Marinade is simple this time: some kecap manis (or soy sauce + brown sugar), Tabasco® sauce (or chili powder), coriander powder, canola oil - adjust to taste. (alternately, just throw together your favorite herbs and spices for the marinade).

Vegetables: this time we had asparagus handy, plus bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant.

I prefer to par cook the vegetables before marinating, so they don't take too long to cook up on the grill.

Marinate for about 30 minutes while the grill is getting hot. Throw them in the grill basket, in batches if preferred, at high heat and let them char a bit... the brown sugar helps carmelize.