Tandoori Chicken

In this post we share how to make best tandoori chicken recipe at home. This recipe helps you make incredibly tender, juicy, moist, and extremely delicious Tandoori Chicken. It is popular in all restaurants and people also like it. Where marinated chicken is grilled to perfection in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven. As a first step chicken is marinated overnight with various spices, herbs, and yogurt.

This marinated helps to tenderize, spice and flavor up the chicken. It is later grilled in a tandoor. Traditionally the heat for a tandoor is generated by wood fire or charcoal. As the food cooks in this clay oven, the juices drips on to the hot charcoal and release a smoky flavor.

The resulting char grilled chicken is the best tender and juicy with bursting flavors. However it is beyond the scope of this post so let us enjoy making this amazing dish at home.

Wondering how to make Tandoori Chicken without having a tandoor?

Any kind of heat source is good enough to grill or roast an oven, stovetop, air fryer or direct fire. We are going to roast the chicken to perfection in one of these ways.

How do we infuse the smoky aroma into the chicken?

It is simpler than you think, you can infuse the smoky flavor either by smoking the grilled chicken with a red hot wood coal or cook it over direct fire for a few minutes toward the end.

How to Make Tandoori Chicken

Prepare Marinade

1. Greek yogurt is the main ingredient used in the marinade. To mixing bowl, add the following ingredients:

• ½ cup Greek Yogurt
• 1 tablespoon ginger and garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoom red chilli powder
• ¼ black papper crushed
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder ( daniya powder)
• ¼ teaspoon salt & your taste
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leave ( kasuri methi)

2. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Be careful not to add a lot. Use
3. Pour 1 ½ tablespoon oil as well
4. Mix well and taste the marinade. Add any ingredient needed to suit your taste like salt and chilli powder. The marinade should be thick not be runny. A runny marinade will let out moisture to the pan and the chicken won’t hold the spices well.
5. Pat dry the chicken with kitchen tissues. You can use ½ or ¾ kg chicken thighs or legs. Next make deep slits into the chicken.
6. Marinade the chicken well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours to over night. Do not reduce the time as the chicken will not get cooked and turn tender. You can keep this as long as 48 hours in the refrigerator.
7. To make the chili oil for spicy version, mix together 1 tsp red chili powder with 1 to 2 tbsps oil.

Roast Tandoori Chicken in oven

8. Roast in oven preheat the oven to 470 F-240 C for at least 15 to 20 mins. Prepare a baking tray with a foil for easy cleanup. Place a wired rack over it, spray/ grease oil on the rack. Place the prepared chicken with thick marinade over the wired rack. Bake for 12 to 15 mins, baste with chili oil/melted butter and turn the chicken to the other side. Check at 12 mins mark.

Bake for another 12 to 15 mins, followed by 2 to 3 mins of broiling if required. Adjust the timing as needed depending on on the size of your chicken and oven. If your oven does not have a broil made, move the rack to the top most level and roast until slightly charred for 3 mins. Your chicken is cooked.

 

Stovetop method – Grilling in pan

9. Heat pan. Add 1 to 2 tablespoon oil.
10. When the oil turn hot, place the chicken on the pan. Regulate the heat to medium.
11. After 3 to 4 minutes turn to pieces. Apply the marinade and turn them after 3 to 4 mins.
12. Meanwhile add red chili powder to a small bowl. Mix it with the oil. This is optional. Smear that to the tandoori chicken.
13. Cook them, regulating the flame as required until they are cooked through. When the chicken is cooked through, prick it with a fork to see the meat fall off the bones easily.

 

Smoke Tandoori Chicken

14. This step is also optional. Hold a wood coal with a tong over a candle until red hot. When it turn hot, drop it in a steal cup. Immediately pour half teaspoon ghee. It will being to smoke immediately. Cover the skillet with a lid and let smoke for 5 to 7 mins.

Brush the tandoori chicken with dripping or with melted butter. Serve with Cilantro Chutney or Mint Chutney, alongside sliced onion, carrot and lemon wedge.

 

Air Fryer Tandoori Chicken Recipe

 

• Preheat the Air Fryer to 390 F or 200 C. Place the chicken on the basket and the air fryer for 10 minutes on each side or until cooked through and the internal chicken temperature reach to 165 F.
• Once done, brush the tandoori chicken with the left over marinade or the red chilli paste with oil. Air fryer for another 2 minutes. For the authentic flavor brush with mastered oil or butter.

 

FAQs

What is tandoori marinade made of?

• Greek Yogurt
• Ginger and garlic paste
• Lemon
• Garam masala
• Oil
• Salt
• Chilli powder

 

How to make tandoori sauce?

Take greek yogurt add it red chilli poeder, salt lemon, garam masala, ginger and garlic paste mix it well. Your sauce is ready.