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Tandoori chicken
Barbecued chicken
An elegant dish from the state of Punjab, tandoori murgh is
one of the most-popular chicken dishes. It can be made in a tandoor
(clay oven), baked in an oven or grilled on a barbecue.
3 lb chicken pieces
1 small onion
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
2 whole cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 cardamom pods
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp red food coloring
- Remove the skin and all visible fat from the chicken pieces.
(I often have the butcher skin the chicken.) Cut 2–3 slits,
1 inch long and 1/2 inch deep, in each piece of chicken. Place
in a casserole dish and set aside.
- Cut onion into 4–6 pieces. In a blender jar put onion,
tomato sauce, yogurt, ginger, garlic cloves, coriander powder,
cayenne pepper, cloves, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, salt, garam
masala and red food coloring. Blend to a smooth paste.
- Pour the tandoori paste on the chicken and turn pieces to
thoroughly coat with spices. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap
and marinate in the refrigerator 4–24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. Remove chicken pieces from
the marinade, saving marinade. Arrange pieces in a broiler pan.
Bake uncovered in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. Turn
pieces over and brush with remaining marinade. Bake for 10–15
minutes until chicken is tender.
- Turn oven to broil. Turn pieces over once again and broil
for 5 minutes to get a nice red color.
- Transfer to a serving platter. Serve with lemon wedges or
squeeze lemon juice over the chicken before eating, if desired.
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