½ tsp saffron strands
3 cubes ice
½ cup Greek yogurt
½ green bell pepper cut into large chunks
1 yellow onion sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lemons juice of
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
Grind saffron using a pestle and mortar. Sprinkle saffron over ice and let it melt at room temperature. This will be your bloomed saffron. In a large bowl, mix yogurt, bell pepper, onion, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and bloomed saffron. Add chicken wings to the mixture and using a pair of tongs, move the wings around so they're all covered with the marinade. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours up to overnight to marinate. Once you're ready to grill, take the bowl out of the fridge and place it on the counter to come to room temperature. Preheat the grill to two zone heating. Meaning have all the coals on one half of the grill and keep the other half empty. Now you have direct and indirect heat. Heating up a charcoal grill takes about 20 to 25 minutes. Once the grill is ready, place the wings on the indirect heat and grill for 12 to 15 minutes. Flip halfway through. Now transfer the chicken wings to the direct heat side and grill them until they're charred to your liking. This would take about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken wings to have them charred on all sides. Serve immediately with your favorite side dish.
Notes: Don't skip the bloomed saffron since the main flavor for these grilled chicken wings come from saffron. As for the marinade, you can use Greek yogurt or any other kind of yogurt as long as it's plain and not flavored. The reason we grill the wings first on indirect heat and then on direct heat to char is that since the wings have bones, they will take longer to cook. If cooked directly on If cooked on direct heat first, the wings might burn on the outside while being raw on the inside. To make these wings on a gas grill: Preheat the gas grill to 350°F and once it's hot, place the wings on the grates. Grill and flip every 5 minutes, until fully cooked. This would take about 20 minutes.