First up was to get the chicken in the marinade. The marinade called for Herbes de Provence, which I didn't have, so I had to make up my own mix. (See earlier post). The marinade was just the olive oil, the herb mix, and minced garlic.
Onto the chicken it went, and after turning to coat, I put it back in the fridge. Side Note: The marinade tasted so good I can see just marinating and cooking the chicken on its own before the glaze.
Next up was the glaze (this is where the tamarind paste came in). So many great flavors come together - orange juice and zest, tamarind paste, ginger...
After whisking together in a sauce pan, it gets reduced by half. There's a high sugar content, and I got distracted for a moment and almost burned it!
And it makes this luscious thick glaze:
The instructions say to separate the glaze, using some while grilling, and the rest as a sauce when served. I never did put it on as sauce after it cooked. I felt it really had plenty of flavor from the glaze while grilling.
On the grill!
And off:
It was wonderfully moist and full of flavor. I served it with the Frida Kahlo zucchini salad I had made.
Because the glaze gets reduced, it really concentrates the tartness of the tamarind paste. I liked it quite a bit, but for those who might not (talking about my husband) I think I might try it next time by reducing the tamarind paste by half, or doubling the amount of orange juice.
I also made the mistake of refrigerating the glaze because there was a gap between when I made the glaze and when I grilled the chicken. It made it very very thick and a little difficult to spread on the chicken. I would make sure it came to room temp next time.
But overall, this recipe is a keeper too.