Dukkah and yoghurt chicken

Ah, marinading. The cheat's way to food that tastes delicious and tricks people into thinking you made an effort. Yoghurt has a tenderising effect on meat, so is great in marinades, while dukkah is just delicious. I have some hazlenut dukkah from the Main St Deli in Greytown out in the Wairarapa, which doesn't appear to have a website, but is amazing, all the same.

4 chicken drumsticks
2 spring onions
1 cup plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon dukkah
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon ground almonds
1 tablespoon polenta
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper


Lots of ingredients, but it's super simple, actually. Mix all the ingredients apart from the chicken and spring onions in a large mixing bowl until thick and creamy. Add the chicken drumsticks, cover with the marinade and leave in the fridge for an hour or so.


Preheat the oven to 180C. Pour the chicken and marinade into a baking tray, and pop into the oven for an hour. After 30 minutes, turn the chicken and add the spring onions, chopped lengthways. Put the spring onions under the chicken, so they soak up all the spare marinade.

After an hour in the oven, the chicken should be browned and delicious, and ready to munch. We had ours with some cous cous, and ratatouille.