Yesterday I cut up some chicken and marinated it full fat yogurt and homemade tandoori massala. Today, when I went to cook it, I discovered that several pieces had bright aqua spots on them. Spots that I know for sure weren’t there when I cut the chicken up and put it to marinade.
What are they? One theory is that the garlic powder in the massala may have reacted with the yogurt to change colors. Garlic has been known to do that. Another, is that it’s “oxidation” or mold.
I’m posting this here in case it happens to someone else and they go around searching for answers in the internet. I may not have them, but at least they’ll know they are not alone.
BTW, I decided to cook the chicken and eat it. It’s been a few hours and so far, I haven’t dropped dead. I’ll update if I feel like I wish I was dead tonight or tomorrow.
Update: It’s now the next morning and I’ve felt no ill effects from making the chicken.
I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about a week old, but still under the expiration date – it didn’t smell at all), a homemade tandoori masala made from ground coriander, cumin, garlic powder, ginger, cloves, mace, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom and nutmeg, and Mountain High original plain yogurt (which contains
Cultured Pasteurized Milk – cultured with
S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, B. bifidus, and L. casei -, Fruit Pectin, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3) . The leftover yogurt shows no discoloration.
Foster Farms says they’ve never seen anything like this.
we didn’t marinate our chicken and they showed up after we cooked chicken.
Very weird!
I have just found it on some raw breast meat I thawed from my freezer…no bad smell or slimy….looks just like your photo. I googled it and everything I’ve read sounds like it is okay to consume. Sure looks odd-it wasn’t there when I frozed the chicken a few days ago.
Just researched this as I saw blue spots on my chicken and found out it is ink! This part of government inspection process so the result is simply that your chicken has some tattoos – it has not gone bad
It’s ink in many cases, but it wasn’t in mine given that the blue dots weren’t there before I marinated the chicken.
I’m still convinced that it’s a reaction with garlic, as I had it happen again to something else I made. In any case, whatever it is, does not seem to have any health consequences 🙂
Thank you so much, you kind human.
Coincidentally, while preparing chicken masala, this neon green colored spot appeared on a chicken.
Not long ago, I was frying potatoes and this same neon green color appeared on some of the cooked potato.
Both times, heavy powdering of garlic, so I’m going to research this further.
I just had the same today on pan fried chicken, and also with oven cooked white fish last week! Very odd and concerning but can’t work it out