Name: Turkish Chicken Wings
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 1.5kg (3 lbs) chicken wings; 2 tbsp melted ghee or butter; FOR THE MARINADE; 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 2 tsp salt; 1 tbsp smoked paprika; 1 tbsp Aleppo Chilli powder; 1 tbsp urfa biber; 1 tsp ground cumin; 3 tbsp red pepper paste; 85ml (1/3 cup) olive oil; 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses; 2 tbsp Greek yogurt; 4 cloves garlic, minced; TO GARNISH; 3 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped; Flaky salt

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These Turkish chicken wings taste just like those from the best food stalls in Istanbul.

I don’t know about you but I love chicken wings. All that crispy skin, what’s not to like? I love the baked, fried and grilled and this new Turkish chicken wings recipe, cooked over fire is one of my current favourites.

Instead of cooking them over hot coals on my barbecue, I gave them a go in my new Doori tandoor oven. Both cooking methods work amazingly well so you can cook these wings on your barbecue or tandoor oven.

About this recipe.

When in Turkey, I love to watch all the amazing chefs cooking kebabs and other delicious things over hot coals. At one place, I got to watch as they prepared different marinades and of course I had to jot down the ingredients. This recipe for Turkish chicken wings is exactly as I saw it prepared in Istanbul.

I did have to purchase a few special ingredients at the spice bazaar which might be difficult for you to find. That said, there are ingredient substitutes which will work really well. You will find a list below.

Turkish chicken wings offer a delicious blend of sweet, spicy, sour and savoury.

About tandoor style cooking.

The Doori tandoor is my tandoor of choice for most things. It heats up much quicker than clay tandoors and it’s even light weight and portable.

When cooking in a tandoor, you need to get it flaming hot before cooking these Turkish chicken wings. All you need to do is add a good pile of lump wood charcoal and light it up. You can always add a little more if you need too, to maintain the heat.

What I like about tandoor style cooking is that the chicken remains good and juicy in the centre and chars on the exterior. The hot metal skewers help cook from the inside out while the exterior heat cooks them from the outside. This fast cooking method ensures the chicken cooks to perfection, quickly and perfectly every time.

Do you have to cook these Turkish chicken wings over fire?

No but that is how the chefs cook them in Turkey. If you prefer to cook indoors, preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F and place the wings on a metal wrack at the top of the oven.

Allow them to cook for about 30 minutes or until cooked through. You can also char the wings under your grill (broiler) for a few minutes at the end. When I cook these Turkish chicken wings in the oven, I always use smoked paprika to give them a smokier flavour.

Choosing the best charcoal for the job.

You can use briquettes, wood logs or lump wood charcoal. I prefer to use lump wood charcoal from Big K.

The most important thing is that you use charcoal that has not been treated with lighter fluid. A good charcoal doesn’t need lighting fluid and you will taste the nasty flavour of the lighter fluid in your food. So stay away from the cheaper supermarket brands.

What goes into these Turkish chicken wings?

Most of the ingredients are easy to find online or at your local supermarket. You might need to seek out a good Turkish grocer for some of them though. No worries there… you will find my substitutes here.

The marinade is a blend of red pepper paste (biber salcasi) which you can purchase or make yourself, garlic, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, salt, pepper and spices. If you have trouble getting the pomegranate molasses, you could use the same amount of good quality Balsamic vinegar.

Aleppo Chilli Powder: This is a mild chilli powder. A good substitute is a 50/50 mix of cayenne and sweet paprika.
Urfa Biber: Urfa biber is similar to Aleppo chilli powder. It has a rich, smoky flavour and mild heat with a hint of sweetness. If you can get it, use it. If not, use more Aleppo chilli powder or the Aleppo substitute above.
Ground cumin: This is of course easy to source and it gives the Turkish chicken wings a delicious earthy flavour.
Smoked Sweet Paprika: You could also use hot paprika. I like to use smoked paprika but normal paprika will also do fine.

How do you prepare the chicken wings?

Before rubbing these Turkish style wings with the marinade, you should slice them at the joint. This isn’t really necessary and is really done for easier skewering.

Chicken wings have two joints. Sometimes they come already cut at the joint which makes things easier. When you take a chicken wing, you just need to use a sharp knife and cut them through the joints. It’s an easy job.

At the end of each wing is the wing tip. You can leave it on or chop them off to use in chicken stock.

How long can you keep leftovers in the fridge?

These Turkish chicken wings are amazing hot or cold. Take them on a picnic!

Step by step photographs.

The ingredients for the recipe on a countertop.

Get all your ingredients ready before you start.

Slicing a chicken wing through the joint.

Cut each chicken wing at the joint. If your wings have the wing tips attached, you can leave them attached or use them in a stock.

The chicken wings seasoned with salt and pepper in a bowl.

Season the chicken wings with the salt and pepper and rub it in.

The ingredients for the marinade in a bowl, ready to whisk until smooth.

In a mixing bowl, whisk all of the marinade ingredients together until smooth.

Rub the marinade into the chicken wings. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes or overnight.

The chicken wings skewered and ready to cook.

Skewer the chicken wings like this. If cooking in a tandoor, skewer a potato at the end to protect the chicken from the heat and to stop the wings from sliding off.

Placing the chicken skewers in a tandoor oven to cook.

Place the chicken wing skewers in a tandoor or over hot coals on your barbecue.

The Doori tandoor oven heated up and cooking the wing skewers.

It is important to maintain the high heat. If you add a lot of skewers, you might need to top it up with more charcoal for longer cooks.

Cooking the chicken wing skewers in a tandoor oven.

Let the chicken cook, rotating, until cooked through and charred to your liking.

Basting the chicken wing skewers with ghee.

Toward the end of cooking, be sure to baste the chicken with melted butter or ghee a few times.

The cooked chicken wings on a cutting board on skewers.

When cooked, transfer to a clean work surface and remove the chicken wings from the skewers.

Serving the Turkish chicken wings on a plate with hot sauce for dipping.

Serve it all up. I like mine with hot sauce.

If you like this Turkish Chicken Wings recipe, you might like to try some of these other Turkish recipes too!

Have you tried this recipe for Turkish Chicken Wings?

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Yield: 6