Tandoori Chicken Oven Stove Top

Tandoori chicken is quite popular across the globe. It is spicy, flavourful, and has a unique smoky aroma that comes from cooking in a tandoor. While it is not easy to recreate a tandoor at home, you can still make delicious tandoori chicken at home with easy yoghurt marination. Using freshly ground spice and long marination is the key to a delicious Tandoori Chicken. I am also going to share how to incorporate smokiness to the chicken to get that authentic favour.

What is Tandoori Chicken?

This dish got its name because it is traditionally cooked in a Tandoor. Tandoor is a clay oven which is used to cook naan, kulchas and chicken for centuries in India. Tandoor imparts a distinct smokiness to the dish. So basically, chicken is marinated in thick yoghurt, spices, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste and then cooked in a tandoor until it has nice charred patches. You would also find Tandoori Chicken has an unusual bright red colour. It is because of red food dye. I don’t add any food colour to my recipe and prefer the colour it gets from the spices used.

What Goes into Tandoori Chicken Marinade?

Basically the marinade has Yoghurt, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice and lots of spices. Most recipes call for double marination, in this recipe I have used single marination. I tried both the variations and didn’t find much difference. To maximize the flavour here is a trick I follow and it really makes a difference. Instead of raw spices, I add warm oil to the dry spices and let it rest for 5 minutes. Adding warm oil to the dry spices sort of cooks the spices and develops flavour. After infusing the oil with spices, add yoghurt, ginger-garlic paste and lemon Juice. Here are few tips to get the maximum flavour in the marinade.

Use freshly ground spices. There is nothing like freshly ground spices. I always make a small batch of ground spices using a coffee grinder and keep it up to 10 days. Using a good quality Garam Masala ( preferably homemade).

I have used Kashmiri red chilli powder. Kashmiri red chilli powder has an intense red colour but it is very mildly spicy. If you don’t have Kashmiri red chilli powder, substitute it with paprika.I like to use mustard oil because of its pungent spicy flavour. If you are using mustard oil, then first cook it until smoking hot, let it cool down. Then again warm it and add to dry spices. If you don’t have mustard oil, you can use any vegetable or canola oil.

Make sure the yoghurt is thick. You can also use hung curd or Greek yoghurt.Add 2 teaspoon of crushed Kasuri methi to the marinade if you prefer.To enhance the smoked flavour you can smoke the chicken with a piece of coal. Here is how to do it. Burn a piece of coal under the direct flame. When it is red hot, place a small metal bowl inside the bowl in which chicken is marinated. Using a kitchen tong place the hot coal inside the small bowl, pour a teaspoon of clarified butter(ghee) or oil. You would see smoke coming out, cover the bowl with a lid to trap the smoke inside the bowl.

How To Make Tandoori Chicken?

While I would have loved to have a tandoor at home to make this delicious Tandoori Chicken, You can’t practically have one. The next way to make is to either grill or bake it in the oven. Another way is to use a grill pan and cook it on the stovetop. So here is how to make tandoori chicken at home with a few handy tips

Chicken thighs and drumsticks work the best. Make 2-3 slits before marinating, so that the marinade gets through the meat.A minimum of 4 hours up to 24 hours of marination is best for this recipe.Take out the marinated chicken and keep it on the kitchen counter for it to come down to room temperature.Now coming to the method of cooking, I cook in the oven or directly on the grill for the best result. But I have instruction to cook on the stovetop too.If you prefer a chared look, broil it for 2-3 minutes on the top rack.