Tandoori Chicken

Name: Tandoori Chicken
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 85 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 4 servings personer
Cuisine: indian
Ingredients: 2 kg chicken quarters, bone-in, skin removed; 50 g ghee, melted; 3 tbsp lemon juice; 2 tsp salt; 2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder; 4 dl thick plain yogurt, strained; 5 cm fresh ginger, grated; 6 clove garlic, grated; 2 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder; 2 tsp garam masala; 2 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ajwain; 1 tbsp kasuri methi, dried fenugreek leaves; 2 tbsp mustard oil; 2 tsp salt; 1 bunch fresh mint, leaves only; 1 bunch fresh cilantro, with the thin stems; 2 pcs green chili, stem removed; 1 clove garlic; 2 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tsp salt; 2 pcs red onion; 1 pcs lemon; 2 tsp chaat masala; salt

Punjabi chicken with the skin removed, marinated twice in yogurt and spices and roasted in sharp, dry heat to a charred, crisp crust.

🍽️ 4 servings personer⏱️ 2 h 5 min (40 min active)indian

The chicken first gets a brief, tangy pre-marinade and then a thick yogurt marinade that sits for a long time, while the chutney and onions can be made ready during roasting. It's roasted very hot on a rack, brushed with ghee toward the end, and rests briefly before serving. The high, dry oven heat is what determines the mottled, charred tandoori surface.

Ingredients

The chicken

2 kg chicken quarters, bone-in, skin removed
50 g ghee, melted

First marinade

3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp salt
2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder

The yogurt marinade

4 dl thick plain yogurt, strained
5 cm fresh ginger, grated
6 clove garlic, grated
2 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ajwain
1 tbsp kasuri methi, dried fenugreek leaves
2 tbsp mustard oil
2 tsp salt

Green chutney

1 bunch fresh mint, leaves only
1 bunch fresh cilantro, with the thin stems
2 pcs green chili, stem removed
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt

To serve

2 pcs red onion
1 pcs lemon
2 tsp chaat masala
salt

How to make it

Pull the skin off the chicken pieces and pat the meat dry. Cut two to three deep slashes down to the bone in each piece, since the marinade only colors and seasons where it can reach. The slashes should visibly open up when you bend the piece. ⏱ 10 min
Mix the lemon juice, salt, and Kashmiri chili powder from the first marinade, and rub it into the meat and all the way down into the slashes. Let the chicken sit in the cold for 30 minutes, until the surface is colored rust-red and the meat feels slightly firmed up. ⏱ 30 min · passive
Chef's tip This short cure is what seasons the meat itself; yogurt marinade largely stays on the surface. Kashmiri chili is here for the deep red colour rather than heat — it's mild, so the 2 tsp won't overwhelm.
Whisk the strained yogurt smooth in a large bowl. Stir in the grated ginger, grated garlic, Kashmiri chili powder, garam masala, cumin, ground coriander, ajwain, and salt. Rub the kasuri methi to a powder between your palms to release its aroma, and stir it in along with the mustard oil. The marinade should be an even brick-red and thick enough to cling to the spoon. ⏱ 10 min
Chef's tip Raw mustard oil is sharp and bitter. Traditionally it's heated until it just barely smokes, then cooled again before stirring it in — that turns the sting in your nose into a round, nutty note.
Turn the chicken pieces in the yogurt marinade, and massage it into every slash so no meat is left bare. Cover the bowl and refrigerate (see Advance Prep).
Set a rack in the upper third of the oven with a baking sheet on the shelf below, and preheat to 250°C. Wait until the oven is fully heated through, since it's the high, dry heat that gives the charred tandoori surface. ⏱ 15 min · passive
Shake off the worst of the excess marinade from the pieces and place them on the rack with plenty of space, so the heat can reach all the way around. Roast for 25 minutes, until the marinade has dried into a matte, mottled layer. ⏱ 25 min · passive
Chef's tip A thick blanket of marinade has to boil off before anything can char, and pieces set close trap that steam between them. Leave a couple of centimetres of air around each; you want the surface going matte within the first ten minutes.
Brush the chicken with the melted ghee and continue roasting for 10-14 minutes. The edges should be charred black in spots, and the juices should run clear at the bone. Poultry needs to be cooked through, so insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh and look for 75°C. ⏱ 10 min–15 min · passive
Chef's tip Hit the center of the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone. If the tip rests against bone, you're reading the bone's temperature rather than the meat's, and the reading will be off.
While the chicken roasts, blend the mint leaves, fresh cilantro, green chili, garlic clove, the lemon juice for the chutney, and the salt with 2 tbsp cold water. Blend to a thick, dark green chutney that falls heavily off the spoon — add water a teaspoon at a time if the blender stalls. ⏱ 10 min
Cut the red onions into paper-thin rings and separate the rings with your fingers. Toss them with a pinch of salt and let them sit until they've just barely turned pliable. Cut the lemon into wedges.
Chef's tip Salt pulls water out of the onion and takes some of the raw bite with it. Ten minutes is enough — left much longer they go limp and weep, and you lose the crunch that cuts the richness.
Let the finished chicken pieces rest on the rack for 5 minutes so the juices settle back into the meat. Sprinkle chaat masala over while the surface is still moist, so the spice clings instead of falling off. ⏱ 5 min · passive
Arrange the chicken pieces on a flat platter with the salted onion rings along the side and the lemon wedges in between, and set out the green chutney in a small bowl. Each guest squeezes their own lemon over their piece, helps themselves to onion rings, and dips the meat in the chutney between bites.