Chicken Tikka for Mother's day BBQ

My parents are in town and after a long time I could celebrate a special occasion with my mum on Mother's day. Few of our friends had arranged a barbeque at Seattle's Golden Gardens Park that offers spectacular views of the Puget Sound with a backdrop of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains.

I made some chicken tikkas, paneer kebabs, couscous salad and the good old barbie favorite potato salad.

Ambika with the cooked tikkas

The Chicken Tikka recipe never fails. A hint of cardamom plus a smokey flavor draws the crowd. Mix together some hung yogurt, minced ginger and garlic, finely chopped or minced hot green peppers, powdered cardamom, kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves), powdered coriander seeds and garam masala. Add in a good squeeze of lemon juice and season it with salt. Rub the marinade well on boneless cubes of chicken. Marinate overnight or at least a few hours. Put them in skewers along with green peppers, onions and tomatoes.

Arrange the skewers on a smoking hot grill and baste it with butter or cooking spray. I generally put them on the grill/broil mode in our oven for a home-cooked version. The oven method misses out the vital smokey flavor, but tastes equally yummy.

The vegetarians out there can make a paneer version of the same as well.

It was a wonderful sunny evening to be out at the beach. Summer is finally here. And am glad my parents came at the right time to visit us. Seattle rains can hamper picnic plans.

The mums were very happy. They cut a cake arranged by Pragya and Gaurav and enjoyed their relaxing evening out.

Here is wishing all the happiness in the world for my dearest Mommy. I cannot imagine this world without her unconditional love and support. Everyday of my life I will be grateful to have her as my mother and a dearest friend.