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Do you love chicken tandoori but do not have a clay oven at home. Me too. I would, however, like to have thatflavor.
Jump to RecipeMy Easy Chicken Tandoori is a close facsimile of the restaurant version. Since, it is the middle of winter in Chicago, I cooked it in my oven. If I make this again, I would finish the cooking on broil to get more of a char on the exterior. If this is summer or not so much snow on the ground, I will use my smoker. I feel the smoker, with light smoke, will really mimic the clay oven. Note to self – add this recipe to summer calendar to try in a few months.
I have mentioned before that Indian food is my favorite ethnic food and I love lots of different kinds of ethnic food. Indian food has so many good spices in its food. It took me a lot of practice, and a lot of fails, to get good at making Indian food. But it has been worth the effort. As a quick aside, I went out for dinner with some buddies this past week and we went to my favorite suburban Indian stop – HIMILAYAN RESTAURANT. We had the tandoori chicken and it was the best I have ever had. The color and the flavors were so deep.
The reason I say this recipe is easy is because all you have to do is marinate the chicken and bake in the oven. The difficult part is getting the ingredients if you are new to cooking Indian food at home. I found, or my wife found, a clay cooking vessel in our basement that I used for my cooking. It imparted the right flavor but it did not get me the char I wanted. There are two things one can do to get the char – either wipe off the marinade prior to cooking or broil the chicken.
The cast of characters. (pic is at nighttime so colors are off)
The tandoori mixture.
The chicken after marinating overnight.
The Easy Chicken Tandoori plated.
Easy Tandoori Chicken
Creating the Indian classic at home. My Easy Chicken Tandoori is so easy to assemble. The only thing you need is time to marinate the chicken.
Ingredients
- 8 Whole Chicken legs
- 1/2 Cup Fat free Greek yogurt
- 1 Whole Lemon juiced
- 2 Tbsp Kashmiri chili powder
- 3 Whole Garlic cloves grated
- 2 Inches Ginger grated
- 1/2 Tsp Ground black pepper
- 2 Whole Cloves ground
- 2 Tsp Paprika
- 1 Tsp Turmeric
- 1 Tsp Cumin
- 1 Tsp Coriander
- 1 Tbsp Canola oil
Instructions
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Score the chicken pieces with several deep cuts each and set aside. Mix all the ingredients well in a container for marinating. Next, add in the scored chicken and mix until each piece is coated well. Marinate it in the fridge overnight.
I used a clay baking dish my wife found in the basement. I put the chicken pieces into the "clay pot". I baked the chicken legs at 325 degrees for 15 minutes covered. Next, I took off the top and continued cooking for another 10 minutes to try and get some color. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes.
Serve and enjoy.
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