Recipe: Chicken Tandoori (for Chuck)

Chicken Tandoori
Yield: 6 Servings

3 1/2 lb chicken pieces
1 md onion, minced
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp fresh chopped ginger
10 oz natural yoghurt
1 lemon rind & juice
2 tb vinegar
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp red food colouring

Skin chicken pieces, score with sharp knife. In non-metallic bowl,mix all ingredients. Marinate chicken in mixture overnight, turning to marinate evenly. Cook on brazier (bbq) so that flames have direct contact with chicken ( not on a hot-plate), or in a vertical grill on maximum heat. The object here is to emulate the tandoor as much as possible in cooking with intense, dry heat. Serve with rice, naan, lettuce, onion rings, cucumber slices and lemon wedges. You can add ground mint and ground very hot chilli powder to the above marinade.

Authentic Tandoori Chicken
Recipe by: Ramu Menon 6:606/1 17 Jun 96 12:58:00

Make a marinade of yogurt, lime juice, chili powder or paprika, five spice powder (we would used "garam masala" which is a powder of cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom, nutmeg and pepper corns) paste of green chili, ginger-garlic paste, a pinch of red food coloring and salt. Marinate it for at least three to four hours (leaving it overnight would be best). Then heat your oven, pop the chicken pieces in an oven-proof dish, pour in a little of the marinade and for the effect of the "tandoor" place a piece of live-coal in your oven (it gives a wonderful aroma). It takes around 10-15 minutes to get done but around half way open the oven and brush the chicken with oil. Make sure not to overdo it. It should be just done for the chicken to be nice and succulent. When it is nice and dry serve it on a bed of lettuce with lemon wedges (which could also be squeezed on the chicken before serving) and a sprig of parsley.

Tandoori is a style of cooking which is close to grilling. In older times it used to be done in big clay pots which used to be put under the ground for the meat to cook, but now we have "tandoors" or ovens could be used too.