That’s why I don’t understand why it’s never very good in restaurants. My parents had a backyard grill. Restaurants have a tandoor oven. They should win. Makes no sense. Maybe it’s because my parents cooked over charcoal. Maybe it’s a happy filter I put on my childhood. I don’t know. But I do know I can make better tandoori chicken at home and so can you.
Watch how to make tandoori chicken
Tandoori chicken needs high temperature – set your grill on max
Charcoal grills help a lot. It will work with gas but it won’t have that charcoal magic to push it over the top. I know. I’m annoying on this subject. But I just love the taste of anything cooked over charcoal. And this tandoori chicken is no exception. No matter what grill you use, high heat is key. A tandoor is blazing hot. Hotter then you can get your grill. So crank it up when you make tandoori chicken. Maximum, indirect heat.
Tandoori marinade from scratch
You can buy tandoori masala. Add some oil. Mix it up with your chicken. That’s not bad. You can also buy tandoori pastes. I use a bit in the marinade. Also not bad. But you can do better. Way better. Make it from scratch. I know. It’s a long list of ingredients. Daunting. Don’t let that put you off. This is seriously good marinade. This is probably going to take a trip to an Indian grocer. If you are getting into cooking Indian you will need to start doing that anyway. Probably pretty regularly at first. And in a pinch, you can leave one or two ingredients out if you can’t get them easily. It will still work. Different. But still good.
Keep the acid for the end
Don’t use acidic ingredients for long marinates. Yoghurt and lemon are great for short marinations. If you use them for more than an hour or two you get mushy chicken. You have no hope if you put chicken in lemon for 24 hours. This is where I think the restaurants are falling down. I was actually in India when I figured this out. I was at a tandoori kebab restaurant and loved what I was eating. So I started asking questions. They told me they didn’t use yoghurt in the marinade. That’s when the light came on for me. No yoghurt. No mushy chicken. That fixed my tandoori chicken once and for all. You may think that’s sacrilege. A violation of the manifesto of tandoori chicken. Guess that makes me a heretic. That’s a role I’m good with. Leave yoghurt out. Add lemon at the end. Dare to be different.
Pay attention to your grilling for the best tandoori chicken
Grilling technique matters here. Cook over indirect heat until your chicken is almost done. Move it over to direct heat to get a bit of char right at the end. Start your thighs 5-10 minutes before the white meat and drumsticks. You don’t want to overcook the more delicate pieces before the thighs are done. That’s pretty much it. Marinate. Grill. Enjoy. You’ll never look back.
