I'm kind of notorious for liking "the classics". A hamburger with regular mustard, not fancy mustard. Pizza with pepperoni and cheese. Boiled corn with butter. But this grilled Indian Street corn with lime, melted butter, cilantro and Indian spices is soooooo delicious it's changed my opinion on the perfect way to eat corn.
That right there is a thing of beauty. It's a tray of Indian Street corn which is similar to Mexican street corn in more ways than the fact that they're usually sold from street carts. Indian and Mexican street corn are both topped with spices, buttery goodness, lime and cilantro. Indian street corn doesn't have the mayo, sour cream and cheese that you see on Mexican grilled corn.
A few years ago a neighbour and I (more my neighbour really) organized a street party for the end of summer. It was a pot luck with everyone just bringing whatever food they wanted. No one knew what anyone else was bringing, there was no planning, and no organizing. Just a general invitation to show up at 5 o'clock with some food and a lawn chair.
We shut the street down with hockey nets, because this is Canada, and everyone just started loading up the food table and rolling out the grills.
I made wood oven pizza for that first street party and with that move, figured I had secured the best dish at the neighbourhood BBQ. I even lotioned my arms so they'd look good slipping into the inevitable sash and photo ops.
Not so.
Instead the HIT of the neighbourhood party was my neighbour's Indian Street Corn. Fresh corn roasted on the BBQ then slathered in Indian spices, melted ghee and topped with chopped cilantro and a huge squeeze of lime.
Everyone went NUTS over this corn. Backflip nuts. Eyes roll into the back of your head nuts. I may have been the nuttiest of them all asking what was on the corn, how did she make it, what were the spices???
"TELL ME NOW YOU SCENE STEALING CORN GRILLING GODDESS."
Is what I thought. What I actually said was, "Hey Edwina? Could I get that recipe? I mean it. I'm not just saying, Hey, I'd like the recipe .... I really, really mean it. Could you give it to me? Because I'd really like it and not just in a polite kind of way I mean I REALLY AND TRULY WANT THIS RECIPE YOU SCENE STEALING CORN GRILLING GODDESS."
A day later she showed up at my door with a recipe written on beautiful paper along with a jar of her own spice blend. I immediately asked her to marry me.
She said no. So did her husband. But I still got the recipe so I don't care.
The most important part of the recipe is the blend of Indian spices. Hot Indian chili powder, paprika, Garam Marsala, kosher salt and cumin.
Sharing this delicious grilled corn with everyone you know is also important but not as important as the cumin.
The corn is also important. You want fresh husked corn that's as juicy and tender as possible because once you put it on a BBQ corn tends to shrink and shrivel.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Tablespoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ Tablespoons paprika
- ¾ teaspoon of hot Indian red chili powder or to taste
- 1 Tablespoon garam masala
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 6 cobs of corn
- Indian Spice blend
- 1 lime
- 1 bunch cilantro
- Melted ghee or butter
Instructions
- Mix the first 5 ingredients together to create your Indian Spice Blend.
- Husk corn.
- Melt butter.
- Chop a large handful of cilantro.
- Pre-heat grill to medium high.
- Grill corn with the lid closed turning occasionally until the corn is nicely charred and cooked.
- Remove from grill and immediately brush the corn with melted ghee or butter.
- Liberally sprinkle spice blend and cilantro over corn.
- Finish with a large squeeze of lime.
So back to the street party. THIS is the kind of thing that comes out of a street party so if you've ever thought of having one but couldn't be bothered know this ... you're stupid.
Cause seriously. Look at that. Just LOOK at it.
The year after I decided not to embarrass myself and kept the pizza oven shut and opted to bring a massive Caprese salad and sourdough bread. The next year I brought - actually I can't remember what I brought the next year. But the last time we had a street party, preCOVID was 2019. I brought pulled pork that I smoked on my smoker and sweet buns for it to go on.
This year? If we're lucky enough to be able to hold a block party this year (on account of the Ick) I have a very special surprise that I'm going to bring. And I'm ridiculously excited about it.
But I can't say what it is yet because I don't want to tip off any of my neighbours who happen to read this blog of mine.
I will say if there's ANYTHING that can beat Indian Grilled Corn, this thing I'm planning is it.
Take *that* my sister wife Edwina the Corn Grilling Goddess.
→Follow me on Instagram where I often make a fool of myself←
Now that I've tried this I don't think I'll ever eat corn the old way (butter, s+p). SO good! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Glad you loved it like I did! And my whole neighbourhood did, lol! ~ karen
Sounds yummy except the cilantro..I am one of those people who can not eat cilantro...tastes like soap to me...the rest sounds wonderful!
Dangit Karen. I literally just had 2 Wendy's burgers (worked late, boo), and I would STILL murder about 3 of them thar corn cobs (or as my friend calls it: "cob on the knob"). It looks divine, and I bet it tastes even diviner!
Here in Texas, we have something similar, taken from Mexican street food (elote) : grilled corn on the cob, squirted with lime, then covered in mayo, sprinkled with powdered smoked chili, cheese, salt, pepper, cilantro, and...cumin. Yummy.
Hmm, we do these too but they're called elotes. all the vendors in mexico sell them, but of course the spice blend is slightly different and they tend to add mayo and cojito cheese
Yup. That's Mexican street corn. :) Also delicious. ~ karen!
I just want to stress that the corn should be charred a bit. That's very important to the flavor. I had the best street corn while going to school in the Himalaya mountains. Dang! I might need to make done this weekend. Thanks for the reminder Karen!
Please thank your heroic neighbor for sharing this recipe. She made a lot of people happy!
Totally unrelated: Holey Moley-Saw the newest Star Trek Saturday. What they did to our boy friend Idris--tsk tsk....
butter, chili powder & lime juice & zest makes a good one too - then you can sprinkle cojita or another Mexican cheese on it
soften butter, add some paprika, S & P, fresh parsley & as much horseradish as you like - slather on corn. mmmmm
Ok, ok. But, is there a particular garam masala that I should be using? Because all the food magazines and blogs say that the garam masala changes depending where and who you get it from. My friend gets it from her mom who brings it back from India with about another 20 different kinds of spices that I've never heard of and are really good. So I never buy garam masala because I feel like I'm not getting what I'm supposed to be getting. What do I buy???
Sera - McCormick makes a pretty decent one with a lot cumin. Some of them seem bland, but this one is nicely flavorful
I have more trouble finding a good curry powder than some Garam masala. You should ask your friend for some of hers. In my experience Indian moms bring back way more than needed. Not complaining about the moms, just sayin!
Omgawd. That looks amazing- must try this.
Question for serving a crowd- did she make just a few at a time? Or did she grill them all and adorn and plate them?
We're having a corn roast at the end of August and think I will do some cobs just like this.
Hi i Karen: a chef friend wraps her corn in parchment paper and then tin foil to roast it on the BBQ. You get the BBQ effect and flavour, but the corn stays moist and juicy. Sooo goood.
You take the very BEST photographs, Karen (I could taste that corn!) and I love the "curtained" area below your kitchen sink. I've always thought that decor idea so charming and just last week, was wondering how it would suit my condo kitchen but figured that, perhaps, it was out of style. Seeing yours, I may just give it a try!
Thanks for another great recipe Karen! And are you obsessed with collecting all 19 crimes from the 19 Crimes wine corks too???
will be giving it a try sounds yummy
I will definitely try it. Here's another one for you, grilled Mexican street corn called "Elotes." It's delicious and sold by street vendors here in Los Angeles. Just Google it and you will find plenty of recipes. Absolutely delicious!
Diggin the wine choice on the counter.
I'm making a grilled corn salad for a big taco grill party we're hosting tomorrow night. You're tempting me to do this instead. Alas, I shall save the recipe for a regular dinner night, when I won't have to share with so many people. ;)
Thanks so much for this recipie. I love Mexican grilled corn slathered with mayonnaise , Parmesan cheese , sprinkled with fresh ground pepper salt & sprinkled with cojito cheese. I always enjoy the Carmellized kernels. The Indian spices just kick it up a notch. Penzys is where I purchase all my spices they are a Wisconsin U S A business also does mail order . in most spices I purchase the smallest quantity to retain freshness since no one loves a dead spice.
Oh - and for the initiated - ghee is clarified butter. The milk solids are removed so you can fry in it without burning the butter.
If you don't already have some in your pantry, just melt regular butter. If you're a real purist, skim the milk solids off.
LOL - there just isn't enough corn in the world to have with all the delicious things you can put on it. Lately my corn dressings of choice are:
1. Smoked hot paprika mixed with dijon mustard and butter.
2. Wasabi mixed with some dijon mustard and butter.
Both of the above are enhanced with a generous squirt of lime. (The dijon adds a bit more heat and some tartness to the mix as well as some body, helping the mix to stay on the corn rather than just slide off.)
I will definitely give this one a whirl - just gotta get the Indian chili powder.
Mmmmmmm. Corn.
There's a typo in your recipe...first line of the instructions.
all fixed. thanks. ~ karen!