Tandoori Chicken

The chicken is skinned before it is marinated, so the yoghurt reaches the meat.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains chicken.

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg chicken, jointed and skinned
• 400 g thick yoghurt
• 3 tablespoons tandoori masala
• 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chilli, ground
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
• juice of 2 lemons
• 3 tablespoons mustard oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 tablespoons ghee, for basting

Method

1. THE CHICKEN IS SKINNED BEFORE IT IS MARINATED, SO THE YOGHURT REACHES THE MEAT. Its article gives the step first and in those words: RAW CHICKEN PARTS ARE SKINNED THEN MARINATED in a mixture of dahi and tandoori masala. It is the easiest step to skip and it decides the dish. Skin is waterproof: leave it on and the marinade sits between skin and spice, the yoghurt never touches the flesh, and what comes out of the oven is a roast chicken with a coating on it. Skinned, the yoghurt's acid works into the surface of the meat and the spice goes with it.
2. THE FLESH IS SLASHED TO THE BONE BEFORE THE MARINADE GOES ON. Two or three deep cuts in each piece. The same reasoning one layer down.
3. IT MARINATES SEVERAL HOURS AND OVERNIGHT IS BETTER. Yoghurt works slowly.
4. THE COLOUR IS A CHOICE AND ITS ARTICLE LISTS THE OPTIONS. Seasoned and coloured with cayenne, red chilli powder, or Kashmiri red chilli, as well as turmeric or FOOD COLOURING. Kashmiri chilli gives a deep red at low heat; the scarlet of a restaurant version is usually colouring and the page will not pretend otherwise.
5. IT GOES ON SKEWERS, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SPECIFIES. The marinated chicken is PLACED ON SKEWERS and cooked at HIGH TEMPERATURES. Skewered, the heat reaches every face at once.
6. THE HEAT IS AS HIGH AS THERE IS. A tandoor runs far hotter than a domestic oven. At 240 degrees on the top shelf it takes thirty-five minutes; the aim is a scorched outside and juice still running clear.
7. THE SMOKE COMES FROM THE FUEL AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS SO. The tandoor is heated with CHARCOAL OR WOOD, WHICH ADDS TO THE SMOKY FLAVOUR. An electric oven cannot do that; its article offers a spit, a rotisserie, or hot charcoal instead.
8. IT IS BASTED WITH GHEE TWICE. Once halfway, once at the end. Skinned chicken has no fat of its own to work with.
9. THE BONELESS VERSION IS A SEPARATE DISH HERE. Chicken Tikka, as on its own page, which its own article calls essentially a boneless version of this one.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes