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TANDOORI SECRETS
Ever wonder why tandoori at a good Indian restaurant always tastes much more succulent than what you can make at home? Well, I asked an Indian cook and he told me that we don’t marinate the chicken long enough and don’t cook at a high enough temperature.
He was spot on. I now marinate for at least 48 hours and don’t even think of putting it in the barby until the temperature is steady at 250 C (500F). Real tandoor ovens are designed to reach temperatures of nearly 500 C (more than 900F) so I often crank up my Big Green Egg barby way past 250C. You will need:
At least a dozen large chicken drumsticks
(cook more than you need as they freeze well)
A 500 g tub of high quality full fat natural yoghurt
About half a jar of Sharwoods Tandoori paste*
Two tablespoons of lemon juice
Wash your hands thoroughly and hold the thick end of the drumstick with one paw and, using a dishcloth or a tea towel, grab a piece of the skin with your other hand and pull it back and over the bottom of the drumstick and discard it. Use a very sharp knife to slash the drumsticks several times on each side to a depth of between 1 and 2 cm to allow the marinade to penetrate the meat.
Place about half the yoghurt in a non-reactive bowl, add the lemon juice, and start adding the tandoori paste a tablespoon at a time. Ideally, you are after a strongly coloured mixture that will cook to a sort of mahogany hue. Keep adding the paste tablespoon by tablespoon and taste a little on a spoon. When it reaches your personal spicy threshold, don’t add more paste but if it goes past then add some more yoghurt (once again, a tablespoon at a time). The consistency of the marinade should be like thick cream.
Put the chicken in a large ziplock bag and spoon in the tandoori mixture. Get as much air out of the bag as possible and then seal it. Using your hands, massage the bag to work the paste all over the chicken. Place in a quiet part of the refrigerator and leave for a couple of days (massaging the bag from time to time if you think of it).
Set up the barby for indirect cooking and pre heat it to around 250 C. Place the chicken pieces on an oiled rack sitting over a pan to catch the drips and spoon the yoghurt mixture over. It’s best to do this in the kitchen so all you have to do is plonk the whole thing on the barby – this means the hood is held open for the shortest possible time.
Sneak a peek after about 30 minutes. The chicken is about ready to serve when the yoghurt coating just starts to blacken in a few spots. But always remove a piece and cut it to make sure it is cooked through. It’s difficult to be precise in regard to cooking times because of the variances in barbys but I usually allow about 45 minutes when I cook tandoori in a Weber kettle.
Serve the pieces on naan bread spread with plain yoghurt and covered with lettuce and sliced Spanish onion. Garnish with lemon slices.
*I’ve given up making my own tandoori paste because if you get the food colouring thing wrong you end up glowing in the dark. The Sharwoods version is consistent in quality and works fine for me. |
