Tandoori chicken

Name: Tandoori chicken
Cook time: 115 min
Total time: 115 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 6 cloves Garlic; 3 u Lemon; 2 teaspoons Salt; 2 u Green Chilli; 1 u Red Onions; 1 tablespoon Chilli Powder; 3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil; 1 piece Ginger; 1 bunch Coriander; 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin; 250 g Greek Yogurt; 1 handful Mint; 0.5 teaspoons Turmeric; 1.2 kg Chicken Legs; 2 teaspoons Garam Masala; 3 tablespoons Water

Pollo tandoori

Easy

Incomplete allergen information: some ingredients have not been reviewed yet. Always check the labels before cooking.

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 115 min
Servings: 4

Summary

Chicken legs marinated twice, first in lemon and salt and then in yogurt and spices, and roasted at a fierce heat until charred at the edges. With green coriander and mint chutney, red onion and lemon.

Ingredients

4 servings

Add to Bring!

6 cloves Garlic
3 u Lemon (one and a half juiced for the first marinade and the chutney, the rest in wedges)
2 teaspoons Salt (plus a pinch for the chutney)
2 u Green Chilli (for the chutney, to taste)
1 u Red Onions (thinly sliced into rings)
1 tablespoon Chilli Powder (Kashmiri, mild and deep red)
3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil (or mustard oil, 2 for the marinade and 1 for brushing)
1 piece Ginger (fresh, about 5 cm)
1 bunch Coriander (fresh, with the tender stalks, for the chutney)
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
250 g Greek Yogurt (or strained plain yogurt)
1 handful Mint (leaves only, for the chutney)
0.5 teaspoons Turmeric
1.2 kg Chicken Legs (whole legs or drumsticks (about 8 pieces), skinned)
2 teaspoons Garam Masala
3 tablespoons Water (cold, for the chutney)

Instructions

Skin the chicken legs and make two or three deep cuts down to the bone on each side. Put them in a bowl with the juice of one lemon and 1 teaspoon of salt, rub well so it gets into the cuts and leave to stand.
30 min
Grate or pound the garlic and ginger to a paste. In another bowl, mix it with the yogurt, Kashmiri chilli, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, 2 tablespoons of oil and the rest of the salt.
5 min
Drain off any liquid the chicken has released, transfer it to the yogurt marinade and coat it well, working the mixture into the cuts. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
Make the chutney: blend the coriander, mint, green chilli, the juice of half a lemon, a pinch of salt and the cold water to a thick green sauce. Keep it in the fridge. Soak the onion in iced water to mellow it and drain before serving.
10 min
Take the chicken out of the fridge half an hour ahead and preheat the oven to 240 °C, or as high as it goes. Arrange the legs, well spaced, on a rack over a foil-lined tray and brush with the remaining tablespoon of oil.
30 min
Roast, turning halfway through, until cooked through and 75 °C next to the bone.
25 min
Switch the oven to the grill on full power and grill the chicken close to the element for 4 to 6 minutes per side, until charred with almost black spots at the edges. Rest for 5 minutes.
15 min
Spread the green chutney over a platter, lay the chicken on top and serve with the onion rings and lemon wedges.

Notes

Tandoori means cooked in the tandoor, the Punjabi clay oven where chicken is roasted on skewers at temperatures a home oven cannot reach; that is why here it is roasted with the oven at full blast and finished under the grill to get those charred patches. The vivid red of many restaurants comes from food colouring; this version takes its colour from Kashmiri chilli, which gives plenty of colour and little heat. If you cannot find it, mix two parts sweet paprika with one part cayenne. Slashing to the bone and the first lemon-and-salt marinade let the flavour reach the inside; the second, yogurt marinade tenderises the meat, so give it at least 4 hours and ideally overnight, but no more than 24 or the texture turns mealy. Use thick yogurt or strain ordinary yogurt in a sieve, as the whey stops it from charring. Mustard oil, pungent and aromatic, is the traditional choice in Punjab: if you use it, heat it until it smokes and let it cool before adding. A handful of dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) crumbled into the marinade adds a very distinctive aroma. The chicken must reach 75 °C next to the bone. Raw and marinated, it freezes well for up to 3 months; thaw it in the fridge before roasting. Serve with naan or rice.