My Favourite Chicken Recipes
Tandoori chicken is a popular North Indian, dish typically prepared in a type of cylindrical clay oven called the tandoor. The chicken is marinated in yoghurt and seasoned with a mixture of spices called tandoor masala. Cayenne pepper, red chilli powder or Kashmiri red chilli powder is used to give it a fiery red hue. If you don’t eat pepper hot food like me you might consider using paprika pepper or adding a few drops of red food colouring to give it the red hue. I made my own combination of spices but you can also buy tandoor masala from specialized Indian stores. I think there are dozens of tandoor masala recipes out there, some recipes even include honey.
The chicken is easy to prepare and tastes very nice. You should use skinless chicken pieces. I wanted a skinny meal after eating a lot of fatty food so I used boneless, skinless, breast. I served the chicken with some homemade garlic and butter naan made on a pizza stone. I hope you’ll love my version of chicken tandoor.
I wish you a pleasant weekend!
Please always remember to assemble all ingredients before you start
Using a sharp knife, make 2-3 slits in each piece of chicken. Rub salt and lemon juice into chicken pieces and set aside for half an hour. (don’t put too much lemon)
Add the paste, red colour, coriander, cumin, garam masala and enough salt and pepper to taste to the yoghurt and stir to combine. (Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade)
Spread the rest of marinade over the chicken on both sides and into the slits . Cover with a cling film and leave to marinate for 6-8 hours or overnight in the fridge.
Arrange the chicken pieces on lightly oiled broil pan. Pour 2 cups boiling water in the bottom container to help keep the chicken moist. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes turning once. Baste with the melted butter and reserved marinade at least 2 times in the last ten minutes of baking. Serve garnished with cilantro and lemon.
Serve garnished with cilantro and lemon.
They were, delicious!
Tandoori Chicken
Preparation time: 30 minutes; Marinating time: 6-8 hours; Cooking time: 30 minutes; Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 12-14 bone in skinless drumsticks, thighs or 8 legs (I used boneless chicken breast)
- Melted butter or ghee for basting the chicken
Marinade one
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Marinade Two
- Paste Ingredients
- 2-inch root ginger, peeled and diced
- 6 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 fresh green chilli, diced – if you want a mild taste use Jalapeño pepper or remove seeds from the green chilli pepper
- a handful coriander leaves (cilantro)
- Grated rind (zest) of one large lemon
- Other Ingredients
- 1 cup thick plain yoghurt
- 1/4 teaspoon red food colour or enough to give a good red colour
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin (freshly roasted and ground is better)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, make 2-3 slits in each piece of chicken. Rub salt and lemon juice into chicken pieces and set aside for half an hour. (don’t put too much lemon)
- To make the paste: Chop the ginger, garlic, green chilli, coriander leaves and lemon rind into a smooth paste in a chopper.
- Add the paste, red colour, coriander, cumin, garam masala and enough salt and pepper to taste to the yoghurt and stir to combine. (Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade)
- Spread the marinade over the chicken on both sides and into the slits Cover with a cling film and leave to marinate for 6-8 hours or overnight in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C) convection. Lightly oil the top of a broil pan set. Arrange the chicken pieces on lightly oiled broil pan. Pour 2 cups boiling water in the bottom container to help keep the chicken moist. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes turning once. Baste with the melted butter and reserved marinade at least 2 times in the last ten minutes of baking. Serve garnished with cilantro and lemon.
Points to Note
- The yoghurt should be really thick. If not place it in a fine strainer or in a cheese cloth and let it drip for 2 hours before using.
- Last Updated: June 1st 2017
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This is one of my favorite recipes and so easy too! I don’t know why people are so intimidated by it -Kat
You know I make it at least 3x a week. So good, the only thing I hate is skinning the chicken. Not my favourite!
Liz
When I make my tandoori chicken, I mix powdered chili pepper and ground sappan-wood. The color is just blazing red. 😀
Hi Hari
Oh my God Hari. That is so great. How can I get this ground sampan-wood. Sounds like an amazing product! Do you have a new President now? Have a lovely weekend!
Liz
Hi Liz!
We have elected a new president and he will be formally entitled in October. The people are very excited about this new president. I hope he’ll bring the country towards better days! 😀
I hope he will keep up the promises he made. I wish you all the best with your new President!
Liz
Sappan-wood i much used in South and South-East Asian food. Maybe you can try to find it in ethic food store. 😀
Oh I shall be going to Toronto today. I’ll see if I can find it in the Asian stores there. Thanks, Hari!
Liz
I adore chicken – and this recipe is just AMAZING. This has gone onto my to-cook list!! Love it!
Hi Afra,
Me too. I adore chicken. I hope it makes it’s way up your cook list. I wish you a wonderful weekend!
Liz
I love tandoori chicken but have never considered making it myself. Didn’t realize it was possible 🙂
Hi Lyn,
Everything in this world is possible. Please try and give me shout. Have an excellent weekend!
Liz
This looks fabulous Liz – I cannot wait to try it. Thanks so much for posting this recipe, might be my favourite so far…..!
I am going to try and leave you a message on your site, but I must admit I haven’t been lucky with boggler sites, lately. It’s impossible to leave messages so If you don’t see one after reading this then try to tweak your setting to accommodate WordPress users. I wish you a wonderful weekend!
Liz
This looks delicious, Liz. For quite some time, until I became more familiar with Indian cuisine, I only order tandoori chicken when we “went Indian” for dinner. Still enjoy it though not nearly as often as I once did. 🙂
Hi John,
What happened to you or should I say what happened to me? We have not been in touch for such a long time, but I trust you are fine. Whenever I go to Toronto, I visit little India for Indian food. I love it. Have a great weekend John and hope to see more of you!
Liz
Aren’t you adventurous. I have never tried this kind of Indian cooking. It does sound good and I’m imagining the scent….if it’s marinated with ginger and garlic and herbs it’s bound to smell as good as it tastes. Maybe I will try this. Just catching up on things following cruise and visit with family. Had a wonderful time but wifi was expensive so I didn’t blog the trip!
Hi there Sandy,
I can’t seem to keep up with all the things I have to do, so it takes an awful lot of days before I respond to messages. Thanks so much for being my friend. You are awesome….
You should try this recipe. I bet you’d like it. I am happy to hear you enjoyed the cruise. Good things cost money…but at least you have all the good memories of the cruise. I wish you a happy Sunday. I am sitting outside. It’s more like summer rather than spring right now. Best wishes!
Liz
I LOVE Indian food !! Thx for sharing !! 🙂
Me too! How goes life? Enjoy the weekend!
Liz
Thank you Liz … and YES I DID enjoy my weekend … I went to an outdoor concert with Kim Mitchel AND April Wine (remember them ???) on Friday night, coupled with FANTASTIC Fall weather for a motorcycle ride … nothing better!! Hope yours was great as well … Stay hungry !! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wow you had lots of fun. I totally agree. I am so damn scared of motorcycles, the day I’ll ride one will be a day to remember for the rest of my life. A long weekend is coming by. Getting ready to roast an extra huge turkey. Enjoy Thanksgiving!
Liz
Ah yes … the festive Thanksgiving family get-together. I already have my turkey happily bathing in a brine … can’t wait to cook this bad boy on Saturday !! All the best !! 🙂
Me too. I have a huge turkey, waiting to be popped into the oven…Best wishes!
Liz
I always enjoy your chicken recipes, this one might be a little spicy for me though, Indian food scares me, I tried this recently, rosemary chicken: http://nosaltnofatnosugar.com/2014/08/15/rosemary-chicken-a-nice-way-to-add-flavor-to-chicken-breast/
Hi Frank
I love rosemary chicken too. It’s mild but excellent tasting. Let me check it out, right now!
Liz
Looks good. Why do you make those slits in chicken?
Because I would like the lemon and spices to absorb, right inside the chicken flesh. Tastes awesome! I hope you’re having a lovely Sunday? Best wishes!
Liz
As soon as I saw your picture I said “yum”. I have not had a dish like this in a long time and now I have a great recipe to try – thanks Liz 🙂
Thanks so much for saying “yum” I guess that means you loved the look of it and I can confirm, it tastes very special. Thanks and have a lovely Sunday!
These look so good! I never knew it was just red food colouring. I wonder if it’s always been so or if it was once a red spice that was used?
I always want to order tandoori when we go to Indian restaurants, but for some odd reason it is served as a starter here, not a main meal. The curries here are delicious but very creamy and heavy. I’d add a few slices of fresh cucumber and some basmati rice instead of naan for a lighter meal.
That sounds interesting. I totally eat butter naan and tandoori chicken as s full meal with some salad on the side. I love Indian food. It’s always such a pleasure to eat the different dishes. Most of the time when I go out to eat Indian food, It’s always a buffet, so a little bit of everything. Nice…isn’t it? have a lovely weekend!
Liz
Indian buffet!? That sounds awesome. I’ve never heard of that here. It would be nice to try all the different curries rather than eating the same “safe” curries all the time.
The only thing we have is bottomless curry, so if you order 1 curry, you can have as much as you want of it. I can never finish a normal portion of curry so I don’t see the benefit of a bottomless curry.
Omg I’ve never heard of bottomless curry. That sounds interesting although the catch is one can’t really eat too much curry at one go. I love the buffet though, coz I taste very little of everything and they have vegetarian too, and then eat one or two that I really like. have a fabulous week!
liz
I’d rather 1 bowl of a taste of everything than 100 bowls of one thing. 100 bowls of everything sounds amazing!
I totally agree with you. Have a fab week!
Liz
Looks wonderful. Another yummy chicken recipe. The homemade naan also sounds great. We’re actually due to make another batch of naan, our stash in the freezer is long gone.
Mama D,
I love homemade butter naan and tandoori chicken. They are probably my most favourite foods. Thanks for your continuous support and wish you a lovely Sunday!
Liz
I absolutely love Indian food. The first or second piece of equipment I acquire when I build my outdoor kitchen will be a Tandoori oven. It will have to compete with that coveted brick oven, however…
Hi Chad,
Me too. Omg I never thought I could build my own tandoori oven, now you’ve got me thinking….not such a bad idea!!! Have a lovely week ahead!
Liz
Wow – this is absolutely gorgeous tandoori chicken!! It looks at least as good if any I’ve seen in a restaurant. Am bookmarking this page – definitely going to try this. Thanks for sharing!!
I love, love tandoori chicken too. Please let me know when you try it. Thanks and have a wonderful weekend!
Liz
So yummy! 🙂
Thanks!
Liz
I love tandoori chicken, but I personally can’t include the red dye. Without it, the chicken still comes out pretty, though! Your recipe looks fabulous!
Do you have the recipe you use? please pass it on!
Liz
I’ve used quite a few from different Indian cookbooks I own – I just omit the red dye!!!
Hi Chef Mimi,
I always want mine to be red. I love the colour red and the red food colour is the best solution. Thanks and do have a great weekend, ahead!
Liz
What a lovely dish, and oh, so flavorful. I don’t know if you know this, may be you do, instead of food coloring, you could use beet juice to color the Tandoor.
Thanks for the tip. How much should I use and does it make it taste sweet? Have you ever used it before!
Liz
Take three beets, peel, cut up, and then boil. The color naturally leeches out into the water. 4 chicken breasts and 1 cup of liquid should do you fine. I don’t notice the taste at all.
Does it taste sweet. I must admit I’m tempted to try. Will let you know the outcome!
Liz
Liz – I only recently discovered Tandoori food. We stopped at a restaurant called “Chipotle Kabob”. I ordered a Tandoori meal w/ Lamb that was served w/ Naan Bread. The flavors were amazing. I know I would love this chicken. Thanks for sharing!
Ha ha I’ve been eating Indian foods for years and I totally love it. Naan is one of my favourite breads too!
Liz
Mm! I used to live in India, and this was one of my favorite dishes. Thanks for a good recipe and a good memory!
Thank you. I totally love Indian food!
Liz
Mouthwatering!
Thank you!
Liz
They are looking absolutely mouthwatering!
Thank you!
Liz
Gary is always saying how much he loves Tandoori chicken, but I have never made it for him. Your recipe looks easy to follow, and I have most of the ingredients, except the chicken! Will remedy that tomorrow.
Virtual hugs,
Judie
Ha ha how could you make tandoori chicken without chicken? mmmm…did you try it? it’s very easy to make and it tastes awesome too! Virtual Hugs.
Liz