Barbequed Tandoori Turkey Drumsticks with Mushroom Medley Pilaf

Yay!! Grilling season is here. And what better way to start it off by making these delicious barbequed tandoori turkey drumsticks? And to make it even better, I also added a fragrant, earth spiced mushroom pilaf, to make it a complete meal.

I've been addicted to the smoky flavours of the barbeque and grill, ever since as a clueless ten year old I ate grilled sausages off a backyard pit in the coffee estates of the Nilgiri hills. OK, I also just realised that the above statement would make zero sense to anyone else reading it, other than me :) Please, allow me to explain. I didn't grow up with barbeque, in the sense that its used in North America. We had our tandoors, of course, but they were used more in restaurants rather than in homes. This didn't mean we didn't cook over open fires, in my grandparents' place, we still have a room with a fireplace stove that we cook staples on. My grandma maintains that you can't really get the true taste of a curry and rice without cooking it in a clay pot on an open fire, which infuses dishes with a smoky, deeply intense flavour. But barbeques were a Western concept, and some of my relatives learnt this when they lived in the States, Canada or Australia.

Some of these friends and relatives were coffee estate owners and spent their summers on the cool slopes of the Nilgiri Hills and in their estates. It was usually a treat to be invited to spend summers with them and I loved being able to romp around the estate, hanging out in the cool, ranch style houses, swimming in crystal clear watering holes and 'hiking'... usually walking a distance a teeny bit further than the nearest cane sofa :) And eating, of course. My uncle would rig up a crude grille over an open fire pit and we would then 'barbeque' 'exotic' Western food items like sausages and bacon and salami. It was the beginning of my addiction to all things barbeque. 

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