You might have tried food from several countries, but must admit that when it comes to spicy food, no cuisine stands a chance before Indian food. Indian cuisine is famous everywhere. The country is known for its various vegetarian and Non-veg fusion dishes. One of the most popular ways of cooking in India is called tandoori cooking. It is a fusion between grilling and frying, most definitely a unique way of cooking food. Anyone who has had tandoori chicken will not forget the delicious taste of it. Many people don’t know that there are other food items too that can classify as tandoori. For example, Tandoori Roti (bread), Tandoori fish are pretty popular items.
Tandoori chicken is quite an easy dish, and anyone with a basic level of cooking skills can make the dish at home. The food takes moderately less time to get cooked, but one is advised to marinate the chicken for at least three hours for the best result.
The Ingredients
To make Tandoori Chicken, you need the following ingredients. If any of these items sound foreign to you, be sure to hit the local grocery store and get it before prepping the meat. This batch of chicken will feed 2 to 3 people.
- Mustard oil (3 tablespoons)
- Ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, garam masala, sweet paprika, salt (1 tablespoon each)
- Yogurt / Buttermilk (1 cup)
- Lemon juice (2 tablespoons)
- Six whole chicken legs, including drumsticks and thighs. (with bones and skinless)
Make The Marinade
Once you have all the ingredients ready, it is time to make the marinade first. Take a shallow pan and put it on low heat. Now once the pan is heated enough, add the dry ingredients and toss them for a while. Once they are toasted, take them out of the heat.
- Put all the toasted ingredients into a blender and add the yogurt or Buttermilk.
- Grind the items to make a smooth paste or masala.
- Add salt to taste and pour the mustard oil into the masala. Keep the masala in a separate bowl.
Prep The Chicken
Now that the Tandoori Masala is ready, all you have to do is lather the chicken pieces in the mix. Be sure to cut the chicken pieces with a sharp knife so that the marinade can penetrate the flesh adequately. Take a big bowl and mix the chicken pieces with the previously done mixture. Leave the chicken in the fridge for a couple of hours.
The Cooking
Now it’s time to cook the chicken and turn them into the famous tandoori chicken you love and eat at your favorite Indian restaurant. In restaurants, they mainly use a clay oven to get the smoky flavor that is the essence of any tandoori item. But if you don’t have a clay stove at home, a regular oven will do just fine. Chicken is more tender than beef; therefore, cooking the perfect tandoori chicken doesn’t take long. Make sure you incorporate the smoky charcoal flavor in your tandoori chicken.
Once done, you can serve the Food with Indian flatbread or naan and Chatni. Be sure to plate the item hot.
