By Khaula Siddique

Welcome warm, sun-filled days with your gentle breezes, fragrant flowers and long lazy hours we have been waiting for you for so long!!

The key word here is “lazy”! There are days when you just want to lie back in a hammock and enjoy the bliss of doing nothing but enjoying the long sunny day, but alas the brood we birthed is hungry and demanding. I gift you the best barbecue chicken recipe ever because it requires about five ingredients that are among the staples of our cupboards and takes a minimum effort to create. Yet in this minimalist-inspired recipe there is a whole lot of taste!

Ingredients

Chicken, boneless or with bones (whatever you have on hand!)

Yogurt

Garlic (you just have to peel and grate it)

Salt

Red pepper if you want a little heat.

As for quantities, all I can say is that I toss stuff in and hope for the best or for my ancestors to say “that should do it!”

I do like garlic (lots of it!) and the yogurt should cover everything, salt and pepper to taste. Does that give you a better idea?

Once your chicken is thawed (if it was in the freezer) then mix a marinade of the ingredients and pour it all over the chicken, you can leave it for a couple of hours or overnight. When you are ready to feed the hungry offspring fire up the barbecue and cook! Boneless gets done pretty quick, you can give it a little cut to make sure the juices are running clear. If you are feeling a little fancy and have them on hand use wood planks (like cedar, maple, apple whatever) it adds a great flavour and smells heavenly. You have to presoak the wood planks so they dont burn though. I got mine at Costco. The yogurt acts as a tenderizer, the garlic adds the flavour and it is nice to just have a very simple taste not overpowered by spices sometimes.

You can serve the chicken with a simple salad and garlic bread, the last time I made this I added fresh-cut pineapple slices to the grill and I think pineapple should always be barbecued! You can also serve it with pasta or rice.

Khaula Siddique, artist at Khaula’s Art, has written for Dawn Pakistan and now paints stories on large walls. She loves bringing art to the community and achieves this through interactive art activities and public art projects. When she is not painting, she is over-indulging her large eccentric orange tabby who part-times as her critic and her muse. You can find her art shenanigans on her website, Khaula Siddique.com.