These Simple Grilled Tamarind Chicken Wings Are Almost Too Good to Share

I have vivid memories of eating cumin-and-chile-spiced tamarind pods by the fistful at my grandparents’ house in Madhya Pradesh in the summer. We saved the seeds and played a board game with them—though you can also peel and roast the seeds as a snack, so they’re never wasted. Tamarind is used in many different forms in Indian cuisine, adding its tart, almost-floral flavor to dals and sambar, brightening vegetable, seafood, and meat-based curries, giving sweet-and-sour candies their personality, and lending a deep and tangy flavor to chaat. It’s an ingredient that I hold very near to my heart.

Part of tamarind’s beauty is that it doesn’t need much to shine. So I decided to keep things fairly simple with my new grilled chicken wings recipe, which starts with a punchy tamarind marinade that has a touch of warm, nutty cumin, a spoonful of red pepper flakes for a mild kick, a dose of fish sauce for umami and salt, and a little brown sugar to balance the tartness and to help with caramelization on the grill. Letting the wings hang out in the marinade for 15 minutes keeps them juicy after grilling and deeply flavorful all the way through.

My colleague Lauren Joseph, who cross-tested the recipe and wrote this guide to tamarind, can’t stop talking about the marinade: “So often, tamarind gets paired with a slew of other intense flavors, like soy sauce, honey, and chili paste,” she says. “Here, the funky ferment of fish sauce is just enough to offset tamarind’s sweetness without overpowering it—everything else in the marinade is a gentle supporting player.”

Lauren says she’ll definitely make these wings again, but she also plans to slather the marinade over everything that goes on the grill this summer, starting with eggplant slices and shrimp. Throw in some cauliflower, summer squash, and peppers if you want to make it into a hearty meal.

The key to success with these tamarind chicken wings is to maintain two zones on the grill, keeping all the coals to one side. Then cook the wings on the cooler side, keeping the lid closed for the first 30 minutes, and basting halfway through. Finally, move your wings over the coals for a few minutes, so that the skin and edges will char and you’ll get some crispy bits (my favorite).

If you can resist biting in right as you take them off the heat, take a second to dress up your hot wings the way we’d serve kebabs and grilled meats in India. While the wings cook, slice some raw onion super thin, then shock in cold water to get it crunchy and mellow in flavor. Then, when you pull the wings from the grill, garnish with the crisp onions and squeeze some lime over the top for a bit of extra-tangy zing. On a warm summer night, it’s like tamarind fireworks. Invite your friends over to the backyard to share—or keep these wings all to yourself. I wouldn’t blame you.

Spicy Tamarind-Glazed Grilled Chicken Wings

Originally Appeared on Epicurious