Tandoori Chicken

By Carrie Floyd, from the Culinate Kitchen collection

Introduction

There are many recipes for tandoori chicken, but this one, from Moni Pillai, is my favorite. Since the ingredients are prepared in advance for the chicken to marinate, there is little to do come dinner time, making this a great dinner-party dish.

Ingredients

Steps

1. With a sharp knife, make several deep diagonal cuts, 1 inch apart, in the chicken pieces down to the bone. Place chicken pieces in a rectangular dish with deep sides and sprinkle with salt; set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the lime juice, cayenne, garlic, ginger, ½ tsp. of salt, and turmeric. Smear this paste over and into the chicken. Refrigerate chicken for 30 minutes.
3. In a medium-size bowl, mix together the yogurt, onion, garam masala, and cumin. Pour this mixture over the chicken, mix well, then cover. Marinate at least 3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
4. When ready to cook the chicken, move an oven rack to just above center and preheat oven to 500 degrees. On a shallow baking sheet covered with foil, arrange chicken pieces. Sprinkle chicken with paprika, black pepper, and salt. Mix the leftover marinade with the melted butter and set aside.
5. Place chicken in preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes. Baste with leftover marinade, turn chicken pieces over, baste, and cook for another 10 minutes or until cooked through. The chicken should be moist and tender, but not pink inside. Serve on a warm plate garnished with the lime wedges and onion rings.

Notes

Read more on the pleasures of Indian cooking.

This content is from the Culinate Kitchen collection.