Tandoori Chicken
Serves 4–6
I love this recipe. It’s great cooked on the barbecue, or on a grill pan, or in a really hot oven (as hot as it will go), or of course the traditional way — in a tandoor oven.
It really is best if it has 24 hours to marinate, but even 2 or 3 hours will be good. I love having some of the leftovers in a sandwich in pitta bread with Tomato Raita.
- 1 chicken, about 1.5–2.25 kg (31⁄4–5 lb), jointed and skinned, or about 6 large chicken breasts, or legs, or both!
- 75 g (3 oz) roughly chopped onion (about 1⁄2 an onion)
- 2 cloves of peeled garlic
- 1–2 red chillies, roughly sliced (I like to leave the seeds in for a bit of heat!)
- 2.5 cm (1 in) piece of ginger, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 250 ml (83⁄4 fl oz) natural yoghurt
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp Garam Masala
To Serve
- 6 wedges of lime or lemon and Tomato Raita
- In a food processor, or liquidiser, whiz up the onion, garlic, chillies, ginger and the salt, then add the yoghurt, lemon juice and garam masala and whiz to a fine purée.
- Cut deep slits into the meat about 4 cm (11⁄2 in) long — this will allow the marinade to penetrate further into the meat. Toss the chicken pieces into the marinade, rubbing it into the meat with your hands.
- Cover and place in the fridge to marinate, for at least 2 hours, better overnight.
- When you are ready to cook it, remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, but don’t wipe it all off, just whatever is clinging to the meat.
- Place the chicken on a hot barbecue to cook on both sides until completely cooked — about 10–15 minutes on either side, depending on the heat of the barbecue. Or place the pieces on a roasting tray in oven.
