Tandoori Chicken (Dry)
Tandoori chicken marinates bone-in pieces in spiced yoghurt and chars them hard at the edges.
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4 hr 50 mintotal
50 min hands-on4 hr hands-off
Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min
- Serves
- 2
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- High
Ingredients
Quantities are for 2 servings.
You'll need: Stovetop, Oven, Grill.
Includes marination time.
Method
First marinade: rub the scored chicken pieces with the lemon juice, some of the ginger-garlic paste and the first measure of salt. Work the paste right into the cuts. Leave to cure for 30 minutes.
30 min
Second marinade: in a large mixing bowl, whisk the thick hung curd until completely smooth. Add the remaining ginger-garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli powder, hot red chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, cumin, coriander, crushed kasuri methi and the rest of the salt.
Pour the smoked and cooled mustard oil over the spice mixture. Whisk hard until it comes together into a very thick, bright red paste.
Squeeze out any liquid the chicken has released during the first marinade. Add the drained chicken to the red yogurt marinade. Massage it in firmly so the thick paste fills the deep cuts.
Cover the bowl tightly. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, though overnight is better.
4 hr
Retrieve the marinated components from cold storage exactly 30 minutes prior to thermal execution. Elevate an oven to a blistering 220°C (430°F), or drive a massive commercial grill pan to a sustained medium-high state.
30 min
Oven method: sit the chicken on a wire rack with a tray underneath. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges char nicely.
20–25 min
On the hob: place the chicken on the oiled grill pan. Cook for 12-15 minutes per side, turning as needed, until the outside is well charred and the meat is cooked through to the bone.
12–15 min
In the last 3 minutes, brush the whole surface repeatedly with melted butter. This crisps the outside while keeping the meat juicy.
3 min
Evacuate the final product from the heat source. Finish with a heavy dusting of chaat masala and an acidic strike of fresh lemon. Serve with extreme thermal urgency.
How to tell it's done
Expect a visually stunning, intensely crimson, deeply scarred, and highly crusty exoskeleton that instantly shatters, yielding to an impossibly succulent, flaky, and heavily spiced interior structure that falls effortlessly away from the bone.
Getting it right
Tip
Chef's Tip: Mustard oil is what gives tandoori chicken its characteristic smell, and nothing else stands in for it. Keep the butter basting to the last few minutes; brush it on early and the crust never forms, leaving the outside soft.
What to serve it with
The undisputed, heavyweight monarch of the Indian starter echelon. Demand presentation upon a ferociously hot, smoking sizzler platter, heavily armored with stark onion rings and a hyper-dense Mint Yogurt emulsion.
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