Baked Masala Chicken Wings

Ever since I came across this baked masala chicken wings recipe, I wanted to fire up the oven. I was excited as this would fit the theme for this month’s baking theme and thought even U would like it. When I mentioned I was going to bake these, he showed no interest what so ever and refused to even taste it. I should have known better, he does not like dry chicken and he is not very fond of Buffalo wings either. Since these have Indian spices, I thought he might enjoy eating. I put off the bake until this past weekend.

Since Mr.U was not going to eat the masala wings, I made it for myself for Saturday night dinner. While I was prepping the wings, I was in two minds and was skeptical about this dish. It was not the recipe but I was not sure if I would like eating the wings with the skin on. Since I had already started the preparation, I went ahead and baked. To my surprise, I liked the masala wings.

Chicken wings are seasoned with spices and baked until brown, for about an hour and coated with a masala sauce. The base for the sauce is tamarind paste and the spices used are common everyday Indian spices. The sauce was spicy and the tamarind gave the sauce the required tanginess. I liked the wings but next time, I would tweak the sauce a bit more to my liking. Though I liked the masala wings, there was something missing in the sauce. I could not put my finger on. It could be the jaggery that I left out. If you like chicken wings, do give these a try and please do adjust the spices and the tamarind paste to your taste. Or make your own sauce to suite your palate. Wings are served with a sour cream dip which I did not make.

Source: Show me the Curry
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes + at least 30 minutes to marinate
Preparation: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 1 hour
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Chicken Wings -

1.15 lbs. Chicken Wings
¼ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Black Pepper Powder
⅜ tsp. Garam Masala
½ tbsp. Oil
2 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
Cooking Spray

Sauce –

½ tbsp. Oil
⅛ tsp. Fennel Seeds, powdered (I used cumin seeds lightly crushed)
1 tbsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
3 small Green Chilies, chopped (adjust to taste)
1 ½ tbsp. Tamarind Paste (I used homemade paste)
½ cup Water
¼ - ½ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
½ tsp. Chili Powder
½ tsp. Kashmiri Mirch or Paprika
½ tsp. Garam Masala
½ tbsp. Jaggery or Sugar (I left it out)

Dipping Sauce –

Salt to taste
Sour Cream
Cilantro, finely chopped
Mint Leaves, finely chopped

Preparation:

Chicken Wings - Wash and pat dry chicken wings with paper towels.
Rub salt, black pepper powder, garam masala to the wings.
Add oil and mix well.
Cover and marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes to an hour.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Line a baking sheet with an aluminum foil and spray it with some cooking spray.
Sour sprinkle flour over the wings and toss to coat well.
Spread the wings on the prepared baking sheet. Spray with cooking oil spray.
Bake for 58 – 60 minutes flipping the wings once, halfway into baking. Baking time depends on the size of the wings.
Sauce – While the wings are baking, heat oil in a small pan.
Add fennel/cumin powder, ginger garlic paste, green chilies and sauté for few minutes on low heat until ginger garlic & chilies are lightly roasted.
Add tamarind paste and cook for few seconds. If using tamarind juice/extract, bring to a boil.
Add water and bring it to a boil.
Add salt, chili powder, Kashmiri mirch, garam masala and mix well. Cook on medium heat until the sauce is reduced to ½ and raw smell of tamarind is gone.
If using jaggery or sugar, add now.
Masala Wings – Remove the wings from the oven, transfer to a bowl or a serving platter, pour the sauce over the wings and toss evenly until coated.
Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
Dipping Sauce – Mix all the ingredients listed under dipping sauce.