In the heart of Old Delhi, we discovered a small rooftop restaurant. It was there that we fell in love with tandoori chicken. Historically, chicken baked in a tandoor clay oven is a Punjabi dish, but it has now become popular across India—from the Himalayas in the north to Goa in the south. Traditionally, it is served with finely chopped white cabbage, seasoned with red pepper.
- 8 peeled chicken legs
- 150 ml of yogurt
- 10 teaspoons of spice “tandoori masala”
Tandoori masala is a mixture of spices that can be purchased ready-made or prepared at home by grinding the spices into a powder using a mortar and pestle. Traditionally, tandoori masala includes:
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Cumin
- Cayenne or chili pepper
- Black and white pepper
- Cloves
- Bay leaf
- Long pepper (Pipalli)
- Black and green cardamom
- Nutmeg
- Star anise
- Coriander
Chili or cayenne pepper traditionally gives the dish a red color, while adding more turmeric will make the color more orange.
Preparation:
Make a few cuts in the chicken legs. Mix the yogurt with tandoori masala spices, coat the legs with this mixture and leave to marinate for at least 3 hours. Transfer the legs to a heat-resistant mold, grease them with oil and bake at maximum temperature for 30—35 minutes, turning the legs occasionally and coating them with the sauce that gathers at the bottom of the mold. Tasty to serve with bread naan, the recipe of which I promise to publish a little later.
Tandoori masala is a mixture of spices that can be purchased ready-made or prepared at home by grinding the spices into a powder using a mortar and pestle. Traditionally, tandoori masala includes:
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Cumin
- Cayenne or chili pepper
- Black and white pepper
- Cloves
- Bay leaf
- Long pepper (Pipalli)
- Black and green cardamom
- Nutmeg
- Star anise
- Coriander
Chili or cayenne pepper traditionally gives the dish a red color, while adding more turmeric will make the color more orange.
Preparation:
Make a few cuts in the chicken legs. Mix the yogurt with tandoori masala spices, coat the legs with this mixture and leave to marinate for at least 3 hours. Transfer the legs to a heat-resistant mold, grease them with oil and bake at maximum temperature for 30—35 minutes, turning the legs occasionally and coating them with the sauce that gathers at the bottom of the mold. Tasty to serve with bread naan, the recipe of which I promise to publish a little later.
