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Tandoori chicken - need some help!

post #1 of 6
7/19/11 at 5:05am
Thread Starter 

A while ago I purchased a home tandoor oven and have been cooking some great food in it.  However, I still don't seem to be able to replicate the flavour of restaurant style tandoori chicken.  I know a key part to getting great tasting tandoori chicken is the tandoor oven - I've got that (its charcoal fuelled).  The other key part is obviously the recipe for the chicken.  I have tried many different recipes, some with up to a dozen spices in it!  But alas, they still don't taste like restaurant tandoori chicken. From talking with a few people, I understand that the chefs in Indian restaurants do not make the recipe that complicated, they simply don't have the time.  Any Indian chefs out there willing to pass on a few tips??

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post #2 of 6
7/21/11 at 4:10am

Hey Spiceman,

 

Lucky you to have a tandoori oven!

 

The Indian stlye recipe is not that complicated as you may imagine.  Whilst I'm not an Indian cook, here are some tips I would give.

 

.  Say for chicken/lamb/pork/beef, it needs marinating in a mix of natural yoghurt, spiced up with ground cumin, ground coriander, minced garlic, finely diced chillis (as hot or mild as you like them), season with some S&P.

 

Put some gashes in the pieced chicken, or dice up the other meats in largish chunks, rub in the marinade, then let it marinate overnight if you can or at least a few hours in the fridge.  Have your tandoori oven up to tempperature.  Scrape of the bulk of the yoghurt, then onto the the skewer to cook, and  see how you like it.

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post #3 of 6
7/21/11 at 7:21am

And finish it off with a squeeze of fresh lime.  That's key.

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post #4 of 6
7/21/11 at 7:29am

I suppose it's a bit of a copout, but the best tandoori I've made came from a tandoori spice paste. Comes in a small jar at the Indian grocer. Mix some paste with the yogurt and it has great results. Better than any time I've made my own.

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post #5 of 6
7/21/11 at 8:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phatch View Post

I suppose it's a bit of a copout, but the best tandoori I've made came from a tandoori spice paste. Comes in a small jar at the Indian grocer. Mix some paste with the yogurt and it has great results. Better than any time I've made my own.



I grew up on Sherwood's Tandoori powder. It had a nice fenugreek punch.

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post #6 of 6
7/21/11 at 11:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phatch View Post

I suppose it's a bit of a copout, but the best tandoori I've made came from a tandoori spice paste. Comes in a small jar at the Indian grocer. Mix some paste with the yogurt and it has great results. Better than any time I've made my own.


I agree. I'm not one to take many shortcuts in the kitchen, but this is an instance where I find the paste I buy to taste better than anything I've ever tried to make myself. It also has that deep red food-coloring color that everybody loves. This is my secret weapon: (Patak's or Punjabi brand if I can find it)

 

image.aspx?ImageID=7f535b6f-fa33-4726-8310-ac2b683a6594&mode=big

 

Always a big hit at any BBQ party I bring my Tandoori chicken. No Tandoori oven necessary! The way I grill it is first over a very hot fire to sear and even char the chicken a bit, get nice grill marks on the skin etc..., then I move the pieces up on the top shelf, turn the fire all the way down and close the lid, let slow cook for about 1/2 hour. 

 

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