Tandoori Chicken is a very popular Indian starter, which also happens to be one of the top 5 Indian dishes searched online in 2018-19. The good part about this dish is that you can marinate larger quantities of chicken and freeze it and just use it as required.
Though the traditional way of making a tandoori chicken is by grilling it in a tandoor or a cylindrical clay oven, we can prepare it on the stove top at home. A tandoor grill or pan can be used to get those lovely char marks on the chicken. But in case you don’t have it, you can use a regular pan as well.
Serve these hot with some green chutney. (Check recipe: https://foodtokwithsherin.wordpress.com/2020/03/07/mint-and-coriander-chutney-green-chutney/)
Few things to keep in mind
- Chicken: Having similar size of chicken pieces will help in evenly cooking them. Also, its important to make cuts on the chicken pieces so that the marinade coats the chicken well
- Yogurt: It is always better to use hung yogurt for this recipe. This will help in making the marinade thicker and will properly coat the chicken pieces
- Marination Time: The more the chicken marinates, the juicier it will be. Leaving the chicken to marinate for 6-8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator really enhances the flavours of the dish
Recipe
Ingredient List
- Chicken – 1/2 kg
- Hung Yogurt – 1/2 cup
- Ginger paste – 1 tsp
- Garlic paste – 1 tsp
- Kashmiri Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
- Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
- Coriander Powder – 1/2 tsp
- Garam Masala – 1/2 tsp
- Crushed Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Seeds) – 1 tsp
- Chaat Masala – 1/2 tsp
- Salt – 1/2 tsp (adjust as per preference)
- Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
- Red color – a few drops (optional)
- Oil / Butter
Step by Step Process
- Make cuts on the chicken pieces and keep it aside.
- Add the hung yogurt and all the remaining ingredients except the oil into a bowl and whisk together nicely till well combined.
- Add red color, if using.
- Add the chicken pieces to this marinade and coat well. Let the chicken marinate for 6 – 8 hours or overnight, covered in the refrigerator.
- For cooking the chicken, heat a tawa and spray some oil onto it.
- Place the marinated chicken pieces on the hot tawa and let it cook. Keep turning and if it looks dry, brush some oil or butter on the pieces.
- When the meat is cooked well and looks like falling off the bone, take it off the heat and let it rest for a couple of minutes before plating.
- Serve hot with sliced onions, lemon wedges and mint chutney! (Check recipe: https://foodtokwithsherin.wordpress.com/2020/03/07/mint-and-coriander-chutney-green-chutney/)
