Cooking tasty Tandoori chicken is a cinch if you follow these four steps below. But before that lets make sure we get the ingredients right and readily available. The things you will need, i've grouped in to four types:

Ingredient group 1. The first one is ofcourse "the chicken". It should be as fresh as possible and the meat tender. If possible try to get it from the local butcher rather than supermarkets or other large convenience stores. The best core ingredient will give you the best results

Quantity: You will need atleast 3 lbs of chicken, nicely cut in to small pieces without much fat visible

Ingredient group 2: These are the fresh ingredients group. Lets get the list.

• you will look for atleast 1/2 a cup of yoghurt
• 2 table spoons of fresh lemon juice, the fresher the better, so try to squeeze just in time
• 1 table spoon of freshly minced garlic
• 1 table spoon of young grated ginger with the juice intact

Ingredient group 3: These are the dry flavourings and seasonings, adding flavor, aroma and taste to the tandoori. So lets get these in order

• 1 tablespoon ground cumin (should get this in the supermarkets, or local ethnic stores)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander, this should be as fresh as possible, adds a lot of flavor and aroma
• 1/2 -1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, depending on how much arousal you are looking for from our chicken!
• 1/4 teaspoon each of flavor agents, ground cardamom, ground cloves and ground black pepper
• Ofcourse let us not forget Salt and Pepper..as your hearts desire.
  

Ingredient group 4: This is the seasoning group. The members here include:

• Vegetable oil, as much as you think your chicken will need
• Fresh chopped cilantro, great ingredient for both flavor and color
• Lets also add some cucumber slices, red/green onions (adds color), red tomatoes and some lemon
  

LETS COOK

Did you get them yet? Are you ready to cook up a storm?

Lets get to the Steps. Follow them closely and the results will be heavenly!!

Step 1: Attack the chicken! make holes with a fork or knife, wherever you feel like so we can get it nicely marinated. Place it in one of your best round bowl. Now take ingredient group 2 and group 3 mix them nicely in a bowl.

Step 2: Take this and pour it over the chicken, taking care to make sure every part is covered. Turn the chicken many times over, use your hands to rub it in, without guilt this time! Put it out in the fridge for atleast 8 hours, more if you like it, but never beyond 2 days please

Step 3: Lets talk about the cooking now. Make sure you get the chicken out for its final roasting atleast 30-45 minutes before. Your choice is to either cook or grill. Grilling is great if you have one, place the chickent atleast 5 inches above the grill and grill till you see some mild charcoal covering on it. you will need to remove, press out excess marinate and brush it with oil a few times atleast during the cooking process. The cooking can take up to 45 minutes to an hour...depending on your cooking levels.

If you are in to roasting, make sure the oven is preheated to about 400 degrees, place the chicken in and take care to turn it over a few times during the process, and brush it with oil every time. Take care to use a nice mitt and not get burned in the process

Step 4: The test for when you are done cooking? A knife pierce in to the chicken should run out the juices. Once done, place it in a nice serving bowl, decorate with ingredient group 4 and serve it up. Done right, the chicken should disappear right before your eyes...in to your guest's tummies.

Cheers and Bon Appetite.

If you've read this far, please let me know what you think of this hub and any suggestion or your own variations of the recipe.

A tandoor (Hindi: तन्दूर, Urdu: تندور) is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Transcaucasus, the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia as well as India

and Bangladesh.............Read More