Tandoori chicken

4.78 from 9 votes

Make tandoori chicken in the oven or OTG. Chicken legs marinated in lemon juice, aromatic spices, yogurt, and grilled until slightly charred. This chicken tandoori recipe is so good that it never fails.

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine Indian, Punjabi

Diet Diabetic, Gluten Free

Keyword best tandoori chicken recipe, chicken tandoori

Prep Time 1 15

Cook Time 40

Servings

Calories 448kcal

Ingredients

8 Chicken legs

First marinade

2 tbsp lime/lemon juice
2 tsp salt
2 tsp red chili powder

Second marinade

1 cup of Greek yogurt or hung yogurt
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp chili powder preferably a mix of Kashmiri red chili powder and hot red chili powder
½ tsp turmeric powder optional
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 tbsp chaat masala powder
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp garam masala powder optional
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves optional
1 tbsp oil
¼ cup grated cheese optional
A few drops of red food coloring optional
Salt to taste

Instructions

Make 2-3 incisions on each piece of chicken. Mix the ingredients from the 1st marinade–lime juice, salt and chili powder; rub the 1st marinade thoroughly on the chicken pieces, and refrigerate for 15 mins. If you are not used to handling chilies then do wear gloves, or use a brush! It might seem like a lot of chili powder, but the acidity from the lime juice is going to cut down the heat.
In another bowl mix the ingredients for the 2nd marinade, and marinate the chicken in this mixture for another 45 mins.
Preheat over to 400°F.
Arrange the chicken pieces on a well greased flat baking tray, or over a greased wire rack that sits on a deep baking tray. This arrangement makes sure that the chicken cooks evenly on all sides, and that it does not soak in the drippings while grilling, which would compromise the texture of the tandooris and wouldn’t give it the desired char.
Cook the chicken for 30 mins.
Then change the oven setting to high broil, and cook the chicken pieces for 5-6 minutes on each side. Keep checking every 3 minutes to avoid excessive charring.
Serve with green cilantro and mint chutney and sliced red onions or pickled onions. Chicken tandooris can also be served as the main course over a bed of buttered basmati rice.
Do try and let me know how it went!

Video

Nutrition