Tandorri Rabbit

One of my all time favorite grilled Indian/Pakistani dishes, the deep fiery red orange color of the meat really stands out, while the yogurt and spice marinade add a unique depth of flavor. This dish tastes great whether you make it with the more traditional chicken, or my favorite rabbit. More often than not, this recipe can leave your lips tingling with it's generous use of red chili peppers, but the dish does not have to be spicy hot. That is a major misconception about Indian/Pakistani food, that it is always served flaming spicy hot. There are indeed some dishes that are made that way, but tandoori is generally mild in regards to the heat factor.

There are a wide variety of commercially prepared tandoori spice mixtures available at your local ethnic (Indian or Pakistani) market. One of my favorite is the Pakistani 'Shan' brand, but like many package mixes, it tends to be hotter than the average American enjoys. And as we have previously discussed on multiple occasions, buying pre-packaged mixes is always more expensive than making the recipe from scratch. As always, using your own recipe allows you to control the ingredients. You decide if you want your tandoori to be flaming hot or not.

As almost no one here in the states has a tandoori oven at home, we will be cooking our rabbit or chicken on the grill. I will also include instructions on how to cook it in the oven, but I prefer the method of grilling. Again, I give you the options, you make the decisions. If you want to make your own Indian pastes to use in you dishes check out my blog article 'Basic Masala Paste' http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Tikka. Included in this article are recipes for more than 6 different curry pastes that you can use in recipes like this one instead of having to use the dry spices. I actually have some canned up in small jelly jars in my pantry.

The Recipe

This brine is a slight variation of my all-purpose brine used in my blog article: Brining: Adds Flavor and Juiciness to Chicken, Turkey, and Rabbit http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Brine. I highly recommend that you brine your rabbit before grilling, the flavor and juiciness of a rabbit that has been brined and grilled is phenomenal compared to one that has not been brined. I promise you, if you just try brining your rabbit once, before you grill it, you will never grill it without brining again.

Grilled Rabbit Brine

8 cups (2 quarts) water

1/3 cup kosher salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns

8 whole allspice berries
2 bay leaves dried

1-inch piece of cinnamon

In a large stock pot add all the ingredient except the cold water and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove the stockpot from the heat and allow to cool. After cooled down completely, place in the fridge overnight for use the next day. I try and always make a brine the day before we are going to butcher. If you like your rabbit with a kick, then add two whole jalapeños chopped with seeds to the brine.

Once the brine has been refrigerated, add your rabbit and allow it to brine for 8 to 16 hours. I usually place the rabbit in the brine and allow it to soak overnight or until I am ready to cook it the next day. About an hour before you are ready to begin cooking, drain the brine from the stockpot and add the marinade. 

The Recipe

8 to 10 pieces of chicken or rabbit

1 recipe yogurt marinade with spices added (see below)

Yogurt (wet) Mixture

1 cup plain yogurt

¼ cup canola oil or ghee (clarified butter)

¼ cup lemon juice

1 drop red food coloring

3 drops yellow food coloring

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix throughly with a spoon or whisk and set aside and make you dry spice mixture.

Spice (dry) Mixture

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine your dry spices together and mix throughly and then add to the yogurt mixture and mix throughly with a spoon or whisk. If you like your tandoori hot double the amount of cayenne pepper, or combine the dry spices with the wet mixture in a blender and add 2 whole pickled or fresh jalapeño peppers seeds and all and puree your yogurt marinade until smooth.

Rinse and pat dry the chicken or rabbit, season with salt and black pepper as desired. Place in a large bowl or 1 gallon zip lock bag and pour the marinade over the meat. Place the marinating meat in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 to 6 hours, for the best flavor marinate the meat overnight.

In Case You Could Not Guess...This One Is Chicken.

When you are ready to cook, heat up your grill or preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove the meat from the marinade and placed on a plate (if grilling) or a foil lined baking sheet if you are cooking it in the oven.

Grilling Procedure – If using a a charcoal grill heat until coals turn ash white then place meat on the grill and cook for 10 to 15 minutes per side for a total of 35 to 45 minutes or until the juices run clear. When using a gas grill, I heat mine for 5 minutes, then turn one burner off and place the meat on the side of the grill in which the burner is off and cook for 15 minutes. Then turn on both burners and turn the meat and place it on the other side of the grill and turn the burner under the meat off and cook for another 15 minutes. Repeat as necessary until the meat has cooked for 45 minutes or until the juices run clear.

Oven Procedure – Bake chicken or rabbit for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, then place under broiler and heat until browned. Be careful to check regularly when broiler on as meat can burn easily.

Chef's Note: If you are going to use one of my pre-made curry pastes found in the article: 'Basic Masala Paste' http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Tikka, substitute 3 tablespoons of the curry paste for the dry spice mixture.

Conclusion

While this recipe is traditionally made with chicken, it is great with rabbit. My family really enjoys it both ways. This recipe is just another of the great ways in which you can substitute your home raised rabbit for chicken and share with your friends and family. I hope you will give it a try and that your family will enjoy it is much as mine. I made this recipe with both as we recently butchered seven Plymouth Rock White roosters, and ten New Zealand rabbits. I gues you could say we had something for everyone.

If you are looking to find my recipes and instruction on cooking rabbit, be sure and check out some of my other articles on the subject on our blog. And as always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us on friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.

Additional References

Brining: Adds Flavorand Juiciness to Chicken, Turkey, and Rabbit