Food Safaris Tandoori Chicken Recipes

TANDOORI CHICKEN

Steps:

• Pat dry the whole chicken, and then make slits on it.
• Whisk together the yogurt, oil, garlic ginger paste, chile powder, kasuri methi, cardamom if using, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, pepper, food coloring and salt in a bowl to make a smooth paste. Add the chicken and mix it well, making sure that the marinade is coating the chicken and rubbed into the slits.
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
• Preheat a tandoor or grill to the highest heat for 20 to 30 minutes. Grill the chicken until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Smoke the chicken: Put an iron skillet on the high heat, then add the tandoori chicken and immediately pour in the ghee or butter. It will begin to smoke immediately. Serve.

FOOD SAFARI'S TANDOORI CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, add yoghurt, ginger, garlic, tandoori paste, food colour, cumin, coriander, garam masala, salt, chilli and turmeric bowl and mix well.
• Once completely mixed, rub mixture into chicken covering all the chicken.
• Seal chicken in the bowl with cling wrap or zip lock bag and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to two days.
• Pre-heat the oven to it's highest setting and bake chicken for 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes reduce the oven heat to 120oC/248oF and cook until tender.
• Serve with steam rice, salad and plain yoghurt.

RESTAURANT-STYLE TANDOORI CHICKEN IN THE OVEN!

Steps:

• In a small mixing bowl, stir together the yogurt and lemon juice. Add the spices, minced garlic, and chili paste, and whisk until you have a smooth, thick marinade.
• Put 6 pieces of the chicken in each of two zip-lock bags, and add 1/2 the marinade to each bag. Zip closed and knead the bags until the chicken is well-coated with marinade. Open bags slightly, squeeze out most of the air, and zip closed again. Refrigerate 12-24 hours. If serving this for dinner, I usually make the marinade and start the chicken soaking the evening before.
• Turn the bags and knead the marinating chicken once or twice while it's in the refrigerator.
• When you are ready to cook, take the chicken out of the refrigerator, line a large roasting pan with foil, lay a rack over the pan so air can circulate under the roasting chicken, and pre-heat your oven to 425. If you have a convection bake or convection roast cycle, use that.
• Place the chicken pieces on the rack so they are not touching. Empty what is left of the marinade into a bowl or measuring cup and touch up any "empty" spots on the chicken pieces with the marinade.
• Once the oven is hot, put the pan with the chicken in the oven, and leave the door closed (no peeking!). Turn the chicken pieces once after 30 minutes of cooking time, then roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly charred on the second side, but no more than 15 minutes for legs and thighs. If you are cooking breasts, poke one with a skewer to make sure the juices run clear.
• NOW TURN THE OVEN OFF, and let the chicken rest in the closed oven for 20-30 minutes more (not critical, but NO PEEKING!).
• Remove the chicken to a warm platter, garnish with the onion rings and a few squeezes of lemon, and enjoy!
• See if you don't agree this is as good as any "authentic" Tandoori chicken you've ever tried!

TANDOORI CHICKEN (MADE EASY)

Steps:

• SLICE skinless chicken crosswise against the bone with 2-3 deep cuts through to the bone, (on each side of chicken legs).
• PLACE chicken pieces into a large Ziploc freezer bag for marinating.
• POUR the MARINADE mixture over chicken; REMOVE excess air from the Ziploc bag; SEAL the Ziploc bag; SQUEEZE the bag to roll and coat chicken thoroughly in marinade; PLACE bag into refrigerator to marinate 3-5 hours to overnight if desired for fuller flavor and more tender chicken (recommended but not absolutely necessary).
• PLACE one oven rack in the second-lowest position, and another rack in the highest position; PREHEAT oven to BAKE at 500°F (make sure oven is clean!); LINE a broiler pan with foil; SPRAY the foil liner with non-stick baking spray.
• REMOVE chicken from marination bag; SHAKE away excess marinade from chicken; COAT chicken on all sides with vegetable oil or light olive oil; ARRANGE chicken (bone-side up for thighs) in broiler pan without the grill cover; TURN on the overhead oven fan.
• BAKE chicken 20 minutes on the LOWER oven rack; TURN chicken pieces over tongs; CONTINUE baking chicken on lower rack for 7 minutes.
• SLIDE pan carefully from oven wearing oven mitts; BASTE chicken with oil; PLACE pan onto the top broiler rack; SET the BROILER to HIGH setting; BROIL chicken just until edges begin to slightly char, about 2 minutes.
• REMOVE chicken from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before serving; SEPARATE sliced onion into rings for garnishes.
• SERVING SUGGESTION: Garnish with sliced white onion, chopped fresh cilantro and serve with fresh lime wedges, fragrant basmati rice, nan bread with mint yogurt sauce (raita), cucumber salad, hot or iced tea or chilled lassi (TO MAKE FRAGRANT EAST INDIAN BASMATI RICE, see Recipe #408115).
• SERVE chicken with desired garnishes and side dishes and ENJOY!

TANDOORI CHICKEN WITH GARLIC SPINACH

Steps:

• Marinate chicken in a mixture of tandoori paste, cumin, lemon juice, two-thirds of the yoghurt and two-thirds of the garlic for at least 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 180c. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and thread chicken pieces onto skewers (soak skewers in water for 30 mins to prevent burning).
• Heat oil in non-stick frypan to medium and saute onion until soft, then transfer to one of the baking trays.
• Increase heat of frying pan and cook chicken skewers for 2 minutes one side and 1 minute the other side. Transfer these to the second baking tray and bake for 6-8 minutes. Put onion into oven for final 2 minutes of cooking time.
• Meanwhile, bring water to simmer in a large saucepan. Add spinach and cook, stirring gently, until limp. Add the remaining garlic and stir to combine.
• Toss coriander and warm onion to combine.
• Serve wilted spinach topped with onion mixture and chicken skewers, and offer lemon wedges, chutney and remaining yoghurt.