Culinary Ginger

Authentic Recipes, Honest Ingredients

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Grilling / Grilled Tandoori Chicken Kebabs

Grilled Tandoori Chicken Kebabs

August 9, 2018

Grilled Tandoori Chicken Kebabs bring everyones favorite tandoori Indian dish into our own kitchens. Chicken is marinated in yogurt and delicious Indian spices then grilled to achieve the closest flavor you can get without a tandoor oven.
Grilled tandoori chicken on skewers on a slate board garnished with cilantro, onion and lemon wedges

If you love tandoori chicken from your favorite Indian restaurant you will love this recipe. The best and only way to get the authentic flavor of Indian tandoori is to cook in a tandoor oven and if you’re like me, you don’t have easy access to one.

 


What is the tandoor oven?

If you’ve every been to an Indian restaurant, then you’ve eaten something that was cooked in the tandoor, naan bread, tandoori chicken or seafood.Tandoor is a traditionally bell shaped clay oven that is open at the top.


 

Used in Indian cuisine to get that unique cooked flavor into naan bread, chicken and seafood that is operated at a very high temperature of 900 degrees F. Not your traditional type of cooking that we know, meat and seafood are cooked on skewers, where the naan bread is stuck to the side of the oven to cook, that’s how you get that unmistakable char and flavor.

An overhead image of chicken skewers

 

There’s no perfect way to re-create the flavors of the tandoor, but us home cooks can certainly try and the next best thing to getting the tandoori flavor is making tandoori sauce.Starting with greek yogurt, all the great Indian spices are mixed to make a marinade.


How to get that recognizable tandoori color

To recreate the very recognizable red hue of the meat an Indian red chili powder is used. This chili powder can be found on the internet, which is where I bought it. If you’re lucky to live close to an Indian market, they should have it.


 

The key to getting the most flavor into the chicken is the marinating.  This recipe has a 2-stage marination process. The chicken is first coated in the red chili powder. Then coated in yogurt and spices for the final marinating.

Chefs tip

Traditionally, tandoori chicken is cooked using larger pieces of chicken. The get the marinade into the chicken for more flavor, the chicken is scored and rubbed into the scores. You can do this if you like, but since these are smaller pieces you can skip this step.

Oven roasting method

This recipe can be made in those cold winter months by roasting the skewers in the oven (I would not recommend using wooden skewers). Roast at 350°F for 20 minutes then broil the get a nice char. If you don’t want to use skewers, use boneless, skinless chicken breasts using the marinade and roast them whole for 20 – 30 minutes then broil.

Grilled Tandoori Chicken Kebabs – Step by Step

 


In a small bowl, mix the Indian red chili powder, salt and oil to make a paste.


Indian spices mixed in a glass bowl

 


Coat the chicken breast pieces with the paste mix.


Chicken breast pieces getting coated with spices

 


In a separate bowl, Greek yogurt, mix more Indian red chili powder, garam masala, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cardamom.


Greek yogurt and spices get mixed

Add the Greek yogurt mix to the chicken pieces and marinate for 30 minutes.

Marinade mixed with chicken pieces

Thread the chicken pieces onto metal skewers.


Chicken being threaded onto metal skewers

Grill 5-8 minutes per side until cooked through to a an internal temperature of 165°F.


Tandoori chicken kebabs on the grill
If you’ve tried these Grilled Tandoori Chicken Kebabs or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love to hear from my readers! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see daily recipe updates.


Yield: 4

Grilled Tandoori Chicken Kebabs

Skewered chicken is grilled with lots of Indian spices and yogurt then grilled for the most delicious tandoori chicken.
Prep Time 3 hours
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 teaspoons Indian red chili powder, kashmiri chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
  • 4 tablespoons Greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon Indian red chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and grated
  • Juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

  1. To a small bowl add the 3 teaspoons red chili powder and salt, mix with oil to form a paste.
  2. To a large bowl with a lid, add the chicken and massage half of the chili paste all over the chicken pieces. Set aside.
  3. To a separate bowl add the yogurt, 1 teaspoon red chili powder, garam masala, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, ginger, salt, garlic, lemon juice and the other half of the chili paste, mix well. Add this to the chicken and mix to coat well. Cover and allow to marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.
  4. Preheat grill on high.
  5. Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers. Grill for 5-8 minutes per side until cooked through and the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F.

Notes

*Food coloring can be omitted, it is only used to get that distinct red color of tandoori chicken.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Amount Per Serving:Calories: 209 Saturated Fat: 6g Cholesterol: 73mg Sodium: 1332mg Carbohydrates: 2g Protein: 26g
© Janette
Cuisine: Indian / Category: Entree

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken tikka masala in a tradtional Indian serving bowl

 

Sweet Potato Samosas with Mango Chutney

A closeup of a sweet potato samosa showing the vegetables inside

 

Indian Dal

15 CommentsFiled Under: Barbecue, Chicken, Grilling, Indian

« Bacon Egg & Cheese Breakfast Loaf
New Mexico Hatch Green Chile Sauce Recipe »

Comments

  1. Sophia Del Gigante says

    May 21, 2014 at 2:09 pm

    Ohhhh my gosh, absolutely LOVE these! I need to make them this weekend!

    Reply
    • Janette Fuschi says

      May 21, 2014 at 2:50 pm

      Thank you 🙂

      Reply
  2. Nisa Homey says

    May 21, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    Absolutely love this perfect tandoori chicken!

    Reply
    • Janette Fuschi says

      May 21, 2014 at 9:35 pm

      Thank you Nisa 🙂

      Reply
  3. Linda says

    May 21, 2014 at 5:59 pm

    These kabobs are absolutely stunning! I would love to serve these to my family and friends! Beautiful photography and excellent step by step directions as always!

    Reply
    • Janette Fuschi says

      May 21, 2014 at 9:35 pm

      Thank you for your kind words Linda 🙂

      Reply
  4. Mary Robinson says

    May 21, 2014 at 9:34 pm

    LOVE the spices in this, looks amazing!!!

    Reply
    • Janette Fuschi says

      May 21, 2014 at 9:36 pm

      Thank you Matt, they are pretty tasty 🙂

      Reply
  5. Nicole Neverman says

    May 21, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    Love this! Sounds fantastic!

    Reply
  6. Sarah Bates says

    May 22, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    These are gorgeous and I can just imagine how delicious they are! I can’t wait to make these very soon!!

    Reply
  7. Joanne DiPalo says

    May 22, 2014 at 9:12 pm

    I’ve never tried tandoori chicken but your recipe sounds delicious. I might just have to give it a try, I think grampy might like this.

    Reply
  8. Alex Tomm says

    May 30, 2014 at 5:02 pm

    I love this recipe! You have captured the color so well. I have tried this recipe with Paneer instead of the chicken and it came out great. Thanks for the idea.

    Reply
  9. Sylvia Tatlock says

    April 13, 2015 at 3:32 am

    Super delicious. Great recipe. Thanks for posting this…

    Reply
  10. Cheryl Cheung says

    August 9, 2018 at 11:08 am

    I love that your recipe does not use food coloring. I’ve made this a few times and it’s the closest I’ve had to the real thing. I love your updated pics 🙂

    Reply
    • Janette says

      August 10, 2018 at 7:31 am

      Thank you so much Cheryl, I’m so glad you like the recipe.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi, my name is Janette. I’m the author, recipe developer, photographer, videographer and resident redhead behind Culinary Ginger. Read More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Copyright © 2019 Culinary Ginger. Privacy Policy.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy