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.

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.

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.

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

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

Thread the chicken pieces onto metal skewers.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

Print

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

Serving Size:

1 skewer
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 209 Saturated Fat: 6g Cholesterol: 73mg Sodium: 1332mg Carbohydrates: 2g Protein: 26g

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