Alright, I’ve gotta admit that I’m super proud of how these wings turned out. It was my first time attempting to make wings crispy in the oven (I had my doubts) and I was so excited when it actually came out crispy! I still think this would have tasted better deep fried, but not bad for baked wings. For the seasoning, I wanted to try something different from my usual go-to cajun / buffalo wings and decided to make a curry flavor. I would usually use a wet marinade on the chicken, but since I had to keep the wings dry to obtain maximum crispiness in the oven, I decided to season the chicken with a dry rub overnight and then further infused the curry flavor/seasoning into the cornstarch coating prior to baking. The chutney idea came to fruition because I had cilantro in the fridge that was going to go bad if I didn’t use it. I added spinach to it because I put too much lemon juice and needed more body to the chutney lol; but it worked out since apparently spinach is used in some chutney recipes so I didn’t butcher it completely…hooray! :).
Chicken Wings Ingredients:
- 2 lbs chicken wings
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Step 1 – Season Chicken:
- The measurements above were written as guestimates for the cornstarch coating, but I did season the wings overnight with garlic salt, onion powder, paprika, oregano, cayenne powder, and pepper in similar measurements (basically everything above minus the cornstarch, curry, turmeric, and cumin).
- I only omitted the curry flavor at this stage because I hadn’t fully committed to it at the time lol. I use the same seasonings above for cajun wings, so I would include a tablespoon of curry powder at this step if I did it again.
- I didn’t read this tip prior to completing this step myself, but other recipes recommend to leave the wings uncovered in the fridge overnight to help dry out the wings to make it crispier baking. I ended up leaving it uncovered only for 2 hours but that seemed to suffice.
Step 2 – Coat the Chicken:
- Line a baking sheet with foil, and put the wired cooling/roasting rack on top. I put oil on a napkin and greased the rack.
- Add all the dry ingredients listed above to a bowl and mix evenly.
- Pat chicken dry with a napkin, and then coat wings evenly in the cornstarch mix. Shake off any excess mix from the wings.
Step 3 – Cook the Chicken:
- Preheat oven to 250°F. Bake wings for 30 minutes, rotating the sheet after 15 minutes.
- Crank up the oven to 425°F, and bake wings for 50 minutes, rotating the sheet after 25 minutes.
Chutney Ingredients:
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 10 spinach leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 thai chilis
- 1/2 lemon for the juice
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of garlic/ginger paste (shout out to my old roomie for introducing this to me…game changer)
- Olive oil (I roughly matched the amount of lemon juice)
Step 1 – Process the Chutney:
- Combine all ingredients above to a processor and grind it up.
- Add more salt and pepper as needed.
If I were to do this again:
- I’d add curry seasoning, soy sauce, and oil to wings and marinate it overnight for more flavor. I’d then pat it dry after and then leave it uncovered in the fridge for 2-4 hours (or for however long it takes for the skin to look dry).
- I’d take out one thai chili from the chutney…two was a little spicy for me.
Inspiration:
My love for chicken wings and curry. And the fear of cilantro going bad and being wasted (I guess the latter was more of a motivation than an inspiration lol).
CDeezy's Kitchen 