
One of the most popular meats to eat grilled or watch people barbecue in their homes in India, is probably without a doubt, tandoori chicken! It’s definitely popular because it is also one of the most requested recipes I’ve been asked to share and I finally pegged a recipe that I love that tastes good and is easy to make.

Tandoori is derived from the word tandoor or the large clay oven where long skewers of marinated meat and poultry are cooked to perfection and where deliciously blistered pieces of naan (Indian flat bread are cooked). We never owned a tandoor at home (they can be pretty huge) and most people in India don’t but there are a few tricks to make this popular chicken dish at home.
Instead of using artificial food colorings to give the chicken its traditional red color, I used a beet which does work very well without affecting the taste though I will admit, I wish it were a deeper shade of red. However, too much beet could also end up sweetening the chicken which is something I wanted to avoid, the marinade gets a deep dark pink color and you will be able to smell the fragrance of the freshly ground spices in it. To cook the chicken in two stages, bake first and then broil to get those characteristic tandoor marks on the chicken. A good piece of tandoori chicken is succulent and juicy with complex spicy flavors mingled with notes of fresh lemon juice, spicy and sour all rolled into one.

My version of tandoori chicken calls for a large amount of chicken as you will see below but this way you can prepare the marinate the chicken ahead of time and freeze some for later. Just thaw a batch in the refrigerator before you are ready to cook. Freezing the chicken in batches is also a great way to save some time over the week. Serve your tandoori chicken with flatbreads such as naan, roti or rice, a refreshing salad and some plain yogurt.
My instructions here are for the oven but you can also toss these on the grill to cook them.
Good accompaniments to this dish are: Cucumber Mint Raita, Pumpkin Raita, Quick Onion Relish
Recipes for Naan can be found here: Skillet Naan and Garlic Naan, Spelt Skillet Naan

homemade tandoori chicken
yields: 6lbs chicken drumsticks
ingredients
6lbs chicken drumsticks
2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 cup red onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup beet, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 inch piece ginger root, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon green cardamom seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 tablespoons turmeric powder
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
12 black peppercorns
1 tablespoon paprika
12 whole cloves
4 dried red chilies (I used Kashmiri chilies but feel free to use any spicy kind you prefer/you can also substitute with 5-6 fresh red/green thai chili peppers)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon kosher sea salt
extra lemons for serving
1. Remove any skin from the chicken, rinse under cold water and pat them dry with a clean paper towel. Make two deep slits across the flesh of each chicken drumstick and keep aside in a large mixing bowl.
2. Using a food processor/blender/immersion blender, pulse all the ingredients from the yogurt to the salt until completely smooth. Pour the marinade over the chicken and coat the meat evenly. Cover with cling film and allow to marinade in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours (maximum overnight) before cooking. (At this point you can do what I did if you don’t want to cook all 6 lbs of chicken, I divided the marinaded chicken after 2 hours and froze half of it in a ziploc bag, the rest I kept to marinate).
3. Place one wire rack in the middle of the oven and another rack closest to the top and preheat to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place about 6 pieces of the chicken drumstick about an inch apart from each other. Pour about 1-2 tablespoons of the left over marinade from the chicken over each piece of meat and cook in the oven on the middle rack for about 30 minutes, turning the chicken pieces over half-way through the cooking. The chicken is cooked when the internal temperature reaches 160F. At this stage, immediately switch the broiler on and transfer the rack with the chicken to the top shelf. Broil for about 3-5 minutes until the chicken pieces get slightly charred. Remove the chicken drumsticks and place in a plate, cover and allow to rest for 2-3 minutes before serving. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the tandoori chicken before serving. Cook the rest of the tandoori chicken drumsticks and serve similarly.
25 Responses
wow. this looks so good!! Love the photos too!
Thanks, Tieghan!
Goodness me, Nik, my word this looks incredible!! I have to try this with some of my homemade coconut milk yogurt ASAP. Beautiful photos, as always.
Beth, let me know how that works out. I am curious if the texture will be similar.
i love the idea of using a beet to make the chicken red! definitely trying this.
Thanks, Myriam. The longer you marinate the deeper the color of the chicken.
This is incredible! I amazed at how you colored the chicken. The photos are also beautiful. Truly inspiring!
Thank you so much, Megan. It is great to meet you.
i usually use raja tandoori masala but using beet is a great idea. l will def. give your spice mix a try soon.
That sounds great, Dixya. It is rather easy to make tandoori chicken at home, once you have all the spices prepared
This looks unbelievably scrumptious (it is close to dinner, after all!). I didn’t know the fascinating backstory of tandoori…I love the tidbits of info you always provide!!
Amazing photos, as usual! If only I could cook with the same ease as I bake; perhaps that would (will!) be Tom’s department. 😉
Umm, I think you should make this for Tom along with one of your desserts. You will win him over!
I love the photo with the spoons and the spices!
Thank you so much!
I’ve been craving Indian Food since seeing The 100 Food Journey last week… this looks like a perfect recipe to try – thanks Nik!
That sounds like the perfect way to take care of a craving 🙂
I was a first year college student when I first tried tandoori chicken, so many years ago, and I seriously thought it was something magical. I was never able to find chicken that delicious, maybe my memories grew a bit too big for anything else to top them, but I am super hopeful your recipe might do that, Nik! 🙂
I hope it does bring back those memories for you, Julia!
Hi Nik! First time I post a comment here. Your recipes and photos are just perfect and I love the portuguese influences in your way of cooking. Tandoori chicken it’s perfect for gathering friends around the table!
Great recipe this, one of my favorites. thanks for sharing.
Simon
Viva la tandoori!
Well said !!!
Hi there. I noticed that 1 teaspoon of green cardamom seeds is mentioned twice. Is that just a dupe, or is it meant to be a different spice? Your photos are really lovely, and I’ve been looking for a good, natural tandoori recipe.
Hi Danielle, good eye. Yes that was a total dupe! Thank you so much for the kind words.
Hi Nik!!
Love your blog and all the recipes and the photos are a visual treat!! I don’t know how I found you but so glad I did. Have been following you for a while on the web and just saw your instagram I love the fusion recipes, the carrot halva ice cream and the tandoori melt. Love the way you added color to the chicken, for me tandoori is all about the color.
and I always missed the color when making tandoori at home because I don’t use food dyes, so quick question … instead of using fresh beets can we use the canned variety?
Hope to hear from you. Love your blog.
Toodles,
Kinza