Tandoori-Style Chicken

Well, I shorted this recipe a bit and am really glad it worked out well. I mixed together all the ingredients for the marinade with a little food coloring, and then tossed in the chicken pieces. Left the chicken in the fridge overnight. Next day, I cooked them in my BBQ grill with indirect heat for 20 minutes. Then, just continued to grilled the chicken with direct heat until they were lightly crispy outside; but, still moist enough inside.


Recipe adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking

Tandoori-Style Chicken

Ingredients

1.25 kg (2 1/2 lb) Chicken Pieces, skinned
1 tsp Salt
1 Juicy Lemon
450 ml (15 fl oz) Natural Yogurt
1/2 Medium Sized Onion, peeled and quartered
1 Clove Garlic, peeled
2 cm (3/4 inch) Cube Fresh Ginger, peeled quartered
1/2 Fresh, Hot Green Chili, roughly sliced
2 tsp Garam Masala
3 Drops Of Yellow Liquid Food Coloring mixed with 1/2-1 1/2 Drops Of Red Liquid Food Coloring (optional)
Lime Wedges

Method

Spread the chicken pieces out on one or two large platters. Sprinkle half the salt and squeeze the juice from 3/4 of the lemon over them. Lightly rub the salt and lemon juice into the chicken pieces. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Combine the yogurt, onion, garlic, ginger, green chili and garam masala in the container of an electric blender or food processor. Blend until you have a smooth paste. Empty the paste into a sieve set over a large ceramic or stainless steel bowl. Push the paste through.

Brush the chicken pieces with the food coloring and mix in the yogurt mixture. Mix well and marinate the chicken for 6-24 hours.

Preheat the oven to its maximum temperature.

Take the chicken pieces out of the bowl, shaking off as much of the marinade as possible. Arrange them in a large shallow baking tray in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just done. You might test the chicken with a fork just to be sure. Serve hot, with lime wedges.