Tandoori Chicken-What Are Your Recipes For Various Tastes?

[Janus 28]

I had a go at making tandoori chicken drum sticks earlier.. They turned out ok for a first attempt. I prepared them yesterday. Grilled for 5 minutes each side first, then 30 min in oven gas mk 6 for 30 minutes.

I used 4 tea spoons of  Tandoori masala in the yogurt and marinated 10 skinless drumsticks for about 12 hrs. The Pkt of TM apparently contains the following 23 ingredients  in ground powders !:
 
Coriander
Paprika
Salt
Black salt?
Cumin
Cassia
Black pepper
Star aniseed
Ginger
Pimento
Bay leaves
Nutmeg
Cloves

Black cardamom
Green cardamom
Lemon
Mango
Garlic
Onion
Citric acid
Chilli
Fenugreek

 

Anyone got their own favourite recipe in respect of using your own  combination and amounts of spices?
Thanks

 

Here is  the results of my attempt.

https://ibb.co/YNkrwcn

 

 

 

 

 

[FIRETHORN1 58]

Hi Janus,

 

I've tried various recipes for tandoori chicken down the years. I'm sharing my favourite one with you below. It's always best to use chicken "on the bone", rather than boneless fillets - I prefer breast and thigh portions. It's even better to buy a whole medium-sized chicken (about 1.2-1.5 kg) and cut it into quarters, giving you 2 breast portions and two leg portions.  It's best cooked in a tandoor oven or on a hot outdoor barbecue - but as not many people have a tandoor and it's not exactly the weather for barbecuing, this can be cooked in a normal oven - near the top of the oven, on the highest heat. It takes about 25 mins in my oven at 250C -although oven do vary. Here's the recipe

 

1 Skin and quarter a 1.2-1.5kg chicken, giving you 2 breast portions and 2 leg portions. Put 4 deep diagonal slashes in each portion, right down to the bone 

 

2 Make tandoori marinade

10 fl oz plain mild yoghurt

2 green chillies (more if you like it hot)

2 Tsp grated fresh ginger

4 cloves of garlic

1.5 tsp salt

1 tsp chilli powder (more if you like it hot)

1 tsp black cumin powder

1.5 tsp garam masala

2 tsp vinegar (any vinegar will do)

2 tbsp cooking oil (any oil will do)

0.5 tsp red food colouring

0.5 tsp yellow food colouring

 

3) Combine the yoghurt, green chillies, ginger and garlic in a blender until smooth. Pour into a large bowl, add all other marinade ingredients and beat with a fork or hand-whisk, until glossy.

 

4) Put the prepared chicken portions into the bowl of marinade mix and massage thoroughly by hand, to ensure that the marinade goes into all the slits. Cover with cling-film and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least 24 hours - altho' 48 hours is even better.

 

5) When ready to cook, shake off excess marinade  and place chicken portions on a wire rack over a shallow baking tin. Bake for about 25 mins on a high shelf for about 20-25 mins at 250C. (Test with fork to ensure meat is cooked - it should pull away from the bone easily)

 

Serve with green salad, lemon wedges and mint raita - and plain, boiled basmati rice, if you like! 

[Janus 28]

Hi Firethorn1,

 

Thanks for the detailed instructions.  I will try your recipe.

 

Of all the other recipes you have tried previously  , what did you feel was not quite right?  I suppose the right taste is  subjective.

 

With some recipes I am puzzled when the ingredients include chillies as well as chilli powider. There must be a reason I guess.

 

Do you use a tandoor oven?  I watched this Indian guy on YT.  It was simply placed on a gas hob-it is all enclosed with a lid. 

 

Near the end of cooking,  he placed a burning piece of charcoal in a metal cup. This was then put inside the tandoor to add a smoked aspect to the flavour.

Edited October 9, 2019 by Janus

[FIRETHORN1 58]

Hi again Janus,

 

When I first started doing tandoori chicken, I used jars of tandoori paste or sachets of  tandoori powder that you mix into a paste yourself with a bit of water or vinegar & plain yoghurt, but I find the flavour is better if you use fresh ground spices. You can also adjust your own mix to suit your own tastes - like using a bit more or less chilli, depending on how hot you like it, whereas with the shop-bought pastes and powders you can't really do that so easily.

 

I've never used a tandoor - although I'd like to - and when I tried cooking it on the stove top in a heavy griddle pan, I just filled my small kitchen with choking smoke and made a right mess of my stove-top with all the spatter!  My favourite way to cook it is on an outdoor barbecue, where you can get decent char and there's plenty of space for the resultant smoke to disperse.

 

I like the sound of the idea of adding a metal cup of charcoal to a covered pan - but I'm not sure I'd dare risk this in my tiny kitchen!