Grilled Whole Chukar with Plum Sauce
Impress with this grilled chukar recipe, featuring a rich blend of sweet and savory flavors. The deep purple plum sauce caramelizes perfectly, keeping the chukar tender and juicy.
Servings: 4
Calories: 244kcal
Ingredients
Chukar:
- 2-3 whole chukar, skin on (or other small game birds)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon table salt
Plum Sauce:
- ¾ lb ripe plums, 1-2" diced (about 3 medium)
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ tablespoon garlic, minced
- ½ tablespoon shallot, diced
- ½ tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon sichuan peppercorns (or red pepper flakes)
- 1 pinch ground cloves
Instructions
Chukar Prep:
- Working with one bird at a time, place the bird on a cutting board, breast side down.
- Using a sharp pair of kitchen shears, cut along one side of the backbone.
- Once you've cut from the tail to the neck on one side, repeat on the other side of the backbone. Remove the backbone and discard.
- Flip the bird over. Press firmly with your palm on the breastbone until you hear the bone crack.
- Pull the legs from the ends so that they are fully extended.
- Pat the birds dry with a paper towel. Drizzle olive oil over the birds and rub it into the skin. Sprinkle salt over the birds and rub the salt into the skin as well. Let the birds sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour before grilling.
Plum Sauce:
- Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the plums are softened.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Return the sauce to the pan and simmer for about 5 more minutes, or until the sauce is glossy in appearance.
- Reserve ¼ cup of the sauce for basting and ¼ cup for serving.
- The sauce makes about 1 cup but you'll only need about half of it for this recipe. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Grilling:
- Preheat grill to 350°F. Grease the grill grates with olive oil.
- Place chukars, breast side down directly over the flames. Grill for 2-3 minutes, or until grill marks are achieved.
- Flip the birds and move them off the flames to cook them in indirect heat.
- Brush about 2 tablespoons of plum sauce on the skin of the birds. Cook for 4-5 minutes and brush on about 2 more tablespoons of sauce.
- Continue cooking for 20-25 minutes, or until the breast meat reaches 150-160°F.
- Remove the birds from the grill and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with warm plum sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- A whole chukar, skin-on is ideal for this recipe. However, it will work with skinned chukar and other small game birds like other partridge species, grouse, quail, and pheasant. The cooking time will need to be adjusted depending on the size of birds used.
- This homemade plum sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors and is an excellent use of seasonal produce. If you're running short on time or plums aren't in season, there are several varieties of plum sauce available in grocery stores.
- If the sauce is getting too caramelized but the birds are not fully cooked, you can move them back over the flames.
Nutrition
Calories: 244kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 0.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 414mg | Potassium: 438mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 157IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 7mg
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