Tandoori chicken: the homemade version!

The tandoori chicken:
the home version!

There are many versions of tandoori chicken, all excellent and all with that difference that distinguishes them from those cooked a little further on... so, although my brother also prepares an excellent one, I decided to stick to that of Mr. Thudianplakal's family preparation (Here the recipe), whom I thank again for the copy kindly given to me.

Perhaps I interpreted the recipe a little freely but I guarantee that the flavor was exactly that of the tandoori that both Mr. Thudianplakal and his daughter have prepared for me several times. ?

The description of the marinade includes many ingredients but, nowadays, they are all easy to find in almost every supermarket.

All we have to do is prepare it together step by step and, starting as always with the ingredients, let's get busy!

Ingredients:

chicken	g.	1'000
lemon juice	pc.	1
extra virgin olive oil		q.s.
sale	pinch (made with three fingers)	1
garlic	cloves	3
fresh ginger, minced	TS.	2
whole yogurt	g.	300
cardamom powder	ct.	3
mild paprika	ct.	4
ground coriander	ct.	2
garam masala	ct.	1
chilli powder	ct.	½
tomato puree	TS.	4
cumin seeds	ct.	2
fennel seeds	ct.	2
red food coloring		q.s.

Preparation:

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Slice and skin the chicken (thighs or fillets), marinate in lemon juice, oil and salt and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Here we have used chicken thigh steaks that are often found on the market already boned and skinned: in my opinion, tastier; as well as cheaper. ?

Meanwhile, prepare the tandoori marinade. Chop the garlic in a blender with a little water to create a paste; then add the ginger, peeled and chopped. Combine this pasta with the yogurt already kept at room temperature.

Coarsely chop the cumin and fennel seeds and add them together with all the other spices and flavorings to the yogurt, mixing well with a fork. Also add the red food coloring. The marinade should take on a deep, dark pink hue.
If then in the kitchen half an onion dances to be killed, chop it and add that too!

Add chilled chicken to this mixture.

Work it thoroughly as if you were doing an Ayurvedic massage making sure all the sauce has soaked into the chicken well.

Cover and refrigerate, turning occasionally for at least a couple of hours (ideally overnight).

Now it's time to cook:
preheat the oven to 230°C;

Arrange the chicken, after draining the excess marinade and using skewers to give stability to the pieces of meat, on a grid inside a pan, making sure they do not touch the bottom of the pan.

Turn off the oven and switch it to upper grill only mode; insert the tray with the wire rack at the second notch from the top.

Cook for 20-25 minutes and in any case until the meat has taken on an intense red color and, if pricked, will not release liquids.

When cooked, the chicken meat will be crunchy on the outside and well cooked and soft, absolutely not dry, on the inside.

Here our tandoori was served with basmati rice cooked with the rice cooker it's a lentil dhal.

Buon appetito!

ADVICES AND NOTES:

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Recipe, text only: to print or download.
Yogurt: I use Greek yogurt, whole and unsweetened.
Il garam masala is a mix of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, pepper:
it can be found ready in specialized shops.
If you use the normal oven (place parchment paper on the bottom of the tray!) or the domed barbecue, the temperature, with a static oven, must be around 230°C and the cooking time must be increased to 40'.