We have been having very pleasant temperatures in Kuwait for the past few weeks and summer hasn’t really shown its presence yet. There were continuous rains and we even experienced flooding! Climatic changes are for real, huh! Evenings are cool and breezy; perfect for a walk and some spicy food. The plan for a barbecue dinner came in time and finally we did this weekend with a bunch of friends. Open air barbecue is permitted in only specific areas in the country and Ahmadi Gardens is one of them. The park has play area for the kids, walking track and provisions where we can set up our grill station. The crowd was a mix of expats and the locals. The park was full and we luckily got a corner station and some seats for us to sit and chat. We were around 15 people and I should say my first barbecue experience was really good 🙂
The preparation started on Thursday evening. Chicken and meat were the decided to be the menu. We had chicken breasts, legs,wings and minced meat. We cubed the chicken breasts as bite-size pieces.
We washed the chicken with turmeric powder, salt and vinegar. The marinade was made of garlic paste, mustard sauce, barbecue sauce,tandoori masala, soy sauce, vinegar,turmeric powder, tomato paste, olive oil, lime juice and salt. To be honest, we just added in everything on an eye measurement but finally the chicken tasted perfect! The chicken was left to sit in the marination overnight in the refrigerator.
We grilled the chicken breast cubes along with the bell peppers and long chilies on the skewers and grilled the wings and drumsticks directly on the grill rack.
Onions and garlic also were grilled along side the chicken until charred. They were a great company when had with the charred chicken.
Store bought minced beef was cooked on a pan with some little salt, cooled down and we packed it in closed containers to the park. We mixed with chopped onions, green chilies and fresh coriander leaves just before we grilled them. We cut the ready-made pita breads into halves, opened the layers and filled in the beef-onion mixture and grilled on the fire. Since I don’t eat beef, I didn’t know how it tasted but the pita packets were vanishing from the grill and I know it was a sure hit!
What’s the best way to end the evening? No, no drinks and that cannot happen in Kuwait. We had packed some loose tea, sugar, mint and lemons with us and made ourselves some super-duper lime-mint tea on the grill to wash it all down.
After dinner, we watched the movie Kaatru Veliyidai on theatres. I know there are mixed reviews but as a die-hard fan of Mani Ratnam and ARR I liked it. Once a fangirl, always a fangirl!!
teakaapi 