Tandoori chicken

Tandoori chicken recipe with video & step by step pictures – Learn how to make delicious restaurant style tandoori chicken at home with this simple recipe. Tandoori chicken originated from the Mughlai cuisine & is one of the most popular chicken appetizers that stole the hearts of many across the globe. This recipe will give you the soft, juicy, flavorful and delicious grilled chicken with bursting flavors of spices & a unique smoky aroma .

You can make this tandoori chicken in an oven & on stovetop. But oven or cooking directly on fire yields the best results.

This mouth-watering delicious chicken is well known as murgh tandoor or tandoori murgh. The term murgh meaning chicken and tandoor is a clay oven. So this dish is all about marinating and grilling chicken in a tandoor.

This tandoori chicken recipe yields spicy chicken that is soft and juicy with all the flavors of spices infused. These are spicy but not hot. Even kids can enjoy them. This recipe uses no food color or butter, making this a low fat chicken starter.

Most Indian homes do not own a oven and use the stove for their daily cooking. So I am sharing how to make tandoori chicken on stove and also in oven.

You can use store bought or ready made tandoori masala. However I have never used one to suggest. All the ingredients mentioned here for the masala will be present in most Indian kitchens. So try it from scratch, like I did.

You can serve this chicken tandoori as a starter or as a side with a meal.

Marinade

1. Firstly transfer hung curd or greek yogurt to a large bowl. It is nothing but curd that has been strained of all the liquid. Please check this link for making hung curd.

2. Put in all the spice powders. Garam masala, coriander powder, pepper powder, turmeric, chili powder and salt. Also add in ginger garlic paste and kasuri methi as well.

3. Add in lemon juice.

4. Pour oil as well.

5. Mix well and taste the marinade. Add any ingredient needed to suit your taste like salt and chili powder. The marinade has to be thick otherwise it will stick up to the pan. There may be lot of moisture that will let out.

6. Make sure the chicken has no dripping water. If needed wipe dry with a kitchen tissue. Next make deep gashes to the chicken.

7. Marinate it well so that the masala reaches deep inside. The marinade will tenderize the chicken. So make sure you do it properly.

8. 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.

How to make tandoori chicken

Grilling in Oven – Preheat the oven to the highest for at least 15 to 20 mins. In my oven it is 470 F (240 C). Place a wired rack over a baking tray and then place the prepared chicken over the wired rack. Grill it 15 mins.

For a spicy version, mix together red chilli powder with oil and baste the chicken on both the sides. You can also baste the left over marinade over the chicken.

Grill the chicken again for another 6 to 10 mins until fully cooked through. Adjust the timing as needed depending on the size of your chicken pieces. The last 5 mins set the oven to broil mode or move the rack to the top most level and grill until charred.

Stovetop method – Grilling in pan

9. Heat a pan. Spread 1 to 2 tbsp oil.

10. When the oil turns hot, place the chicken on the tawa. Regulate the heat to medium.

11. After 3 to 4 minutes flip the pieces. Smear the marinade.

12. Flip them again after 3 to 4 mins.

13. Meanwhile add red chili powder to a small bowl. Mix it with the oil. This is optional. Skip if you do not want spiced ones.

14. Smear that to the tandoori chicken.

15. Flip them. Cook on both the sides until soft and cooked. If it looks too dry, smear little soft butter.

Smoking tandoori chicken

16. This step is also optional, unless you want to smoke the chicken. Burn the charcoal.

17. When it turns hot, drop it in a cup. Immediately pour 1 to 2 tsps ghee.

18. It will begin to smoke immediately.

19. Finally cover it and allow to smoke for 5 to 7 mins.

20. Before smoking the tandoori chicken, do check if it is cooked well. The meat should fall off the bone easily.

Serve tandoori chicken with sliced onions, carrots and lemon wedges.