Tandoori Chicken Recipe

Last night’s dinner: tandoori chicken, curried cauliflower, and naan. The dinner was fantastic, and we didn’t even need to pay restaurant prices.

Tonight, I’ll post the chicken, and post the other recipes over the next few days.

Tandoori Chicken Recipe

Tandoori Chicken

4 large chicken breasts
Juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups plain yogurt
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons chopped cilantro

Make three deep cuts into the chicken breasts on one side, and turn them over and make three deep cuts on the other side, going the other direction.

Sprinkle the chicken with the lemon juice and the salt. Put the chicken into a gallon-size zip-top baggie and let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, while you mix the marinade.

Mix yogurt, onion, garlic, ginger, garam masala, cayenne, and turmeric. Put the marinade in the bag with the chicken, seal the bag, and mush it around so that every surface of the chicken is coated in the marinade. Refrigerate for 6 to 24 hours. Periodically turn the bag, if you can.

Heat the oven to 425°. Fit a cookie sheet or roasting pan with a rack and position the chicken breasts on top, with room between them. If any marinade got rubbed off, touch it up with leftover marinade from the bag.

Roast for 30 minutes, and then turn the chicken breasts over and roast for an additional 20 minutes. You should get a little bit of char on them. Turn the oven off and don’t open the door for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with the cilantro.

I can’t wait to have this again – the chicken was so tender and full of flavor. We had some monster-sized chicken breasts (making me wonder what kind of chicken they came from!), so you may need to cook it for a little less time. Or use thighs (even less expensive), and cook it for only 15 minutes after turning them.