Homemade Indian Tandoori Chicken

This classic Indian recipe is a favorite not only by Indians but non-Indians too.
What is sad though is that because of it's popularity people have termed it as a very difficult recipe to make. Honestly it is not!

Once you have the ingredients it's all about marinating and baking / grilling.
The best thing about making Tandoori Chicken is that it's a make ahead dish.

Making it Parve - Traditionally Tandoori Chicken is made with Yogurt. All my life I ate meat marinated in Yogurt sauce until I came to Israel.  Here meat and dairy are never cooked together. So in Israel the chicken is marinated with the same spices minus the Yogurt.

So if you choose to make this recipe and want it Parve just do not add any yogurt. The rest of the ingredients and measurements will remain the same.


Here's what you'll need.

4 Chicken quarters - (I like to keep them joint)
1 cup Yogurt (plain)
1 1/2 tbsp garlic paste
1 1/2 tbsp ginger paste
1 tsp chilly Powder or Cayenne Powder 
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tbsp Coriander Powder
1 tbsp  Fenugreek/ Methi powder (optional)
1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Canola Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Chat Masala. lemon wedges and Cilantro  - for garnish (optional) 

Method:
Clean, skin, wash and pat dry the chicken quarters.
Make some slashes on the legs and thighs. This will help absorb the marinade better.

In a large bowl, add all the marinade ingredients including yogurt, lemon juice, salt pepper and all the dry spices. 

Stir to combine

Add the chicken quarters.

 Coat the chicken well. Marinate the chicken for a minimum  4 hours to over night.

About an hour before you are ready to serve.

You can grill the tandoori chicken like any other BBQ chicken - it taste great.

This is what I do at home on a regular day.

Preheat your oven at 220C/440F for at least 20 minutes.
Line a baking tray with foil for easy clean up.
Place your wire rack on the top of the baking tray like so..
Arrange your chicken pieces on the wire rack.
Add 1 tbsp of canola oil to the left over marinade in the bowl. Using a pastry brush coat the oil and marinade to the chicken now as well as when you turn the chicken over during cookiing.

Bake on a shelf closer to the heat so it will get a nice brown color.
Bake for 20 minutes, turn the chicken over and bake another 10 minutes.
Check the Chicken for doneness, If necessary bake for 10 more minutes.
If the chicken has not browned - turn the grill on for the last five minutes of baking.

That's my Tandoori Chicken after 35 minutes of baking. I did put the grill on for the last 5 minutes.

Enjoy!


Thanks for stopping by.