Recipe: Baked Tandoori Chicken (using chicken breasts and yogurt marinade)

BAKED TANDOORI CHICKEN

"Many Indian dishes are intimidating to cook at home, but not tandoori chicken. This aromatic, pleasing dish requires nothing more than marinating the chicken in a blend of familiar spices, then grilling or baking it. The results may actually be more succulent and enjoyable than what is served in a restaurant. Bold yet gently flavored, tandoori chicken is remarkably healthful. The chicken is skinned, and you can use only lean breasts.

Tandoori Chicken is a perfect dinner choice when you are busy but need an interesting dish. You can make the marinade quickly in the blender, scoop it into a plastic bag, add the chicken, and let the whole thing sit in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before cooking. (Leave it longer and the chicken will be mushy.) "

1 cup fat-free yogurt
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves
1 piece ginger root, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1/4 tsp. ground mace
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon (2 to 3 tablespoons)
2 whole chicken breasts, split and skinned

In a blender or food processor, combine the yogurt, onion, garlic, and ginger and puree together. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, mace, nutmeg, oil and lemon juice, and blend.

Cut 2 slits in each piece of chicken, slashing it along the grain to make a slit 2 to 3 inches long and almost but not completely into the bone. Place the chicken in a plastic bag or a glass, stainless steel or plastic container large enough to hold the pieces in one layer. Pour the yogurt mixture over the chicken and rub to be sure it coats the meat on all sides. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator one hour to overnight.

WHEN READY TO COOK:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Arrange the chicken in one layer in a shallow baking dish.

Bake until the juices run clear when a breast is pierced with a knife at its thickest point and no pink shows in the center, 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts.

Each of the four servings contains 186 calories and 6 grams of fat.

SERVING SUGGESTION:
Serve, accompanied by cooked basmati rice and a green salad.

RECIPE NOTES:
In restaurants in the U.S., as in the Punjab, the region now partly in Pakistan and partly in northwestern India, where tandoori chicken originated, this dish is cooked in a special oven called a tandoori. Made of red clay, a tandoori looks like a tall, rounded vase set on the ground. When the fire in the bottom of the tandoori burns down to glowing coals, and the clay has become searingly hot, long skewers of meat, chicken, or vegetables are lowered into it to cook. The intense heat both bakes and grills the food.

Adapted from source: Dana Jacobi for the American Institute for Cancer Research