Easy and Authentic Tandoori Chicken Meal At Home

Everyone knows butter chicken and Tikka Masala .

Oh , it's so nice .

Really ?

You're gonna skip out on one of the greatest of all time .

Let's learn together today .

We're making a traditional tandoori chicken .

I know I say , oh traditional most of the time we hit the mark every once in a while .

It's like , yeah , maybe not so much .

But we try this one .

We're going all out .

I bought an actual tan and it was extremely expensive but I'm doing it to do justice .

You think I have the uncle title for no reason ?

You're God .

Right .

I'm gonna flex it .

We've got every element we need to make the greatest tandoori chicken of all time as well as an alternative if you don't have a tandoor .

So with all that being said , let's make this , shall we ?

All right , pal .

We're not just slapping this chicken and goodies on a grill like all the basic tandoori recipes out there .

I bought an actual tandoor .

Am I pronouncing this right ?

By the way , please let me know I did this for you .

But don't worry , I'll give you alternatives on how to make this without a tandoor .

Let's begin with our prize possession .

Buttery garlic .

No .

Yes .

Starting with half a cup or 100 and 12 g of water around 95 °F add two tablespoons or 25 g of sugar .

2.5 teaspoons or 9 g of instant yeast whisk that together until dissolved .

Then add half a cup or 100 and 12 g of full fat yogurt .

Finally whisk in three tablespoons of 45 g of vegetable oil and 1.5 teaspoons or 11 g of fine sea salt in a large bowl , add 2.5 cups or 380 g of bread .

Flour .

Add in your yeasty yogurt , creamy juices .

Nice to your bread , flour and mix by hand until you get a rough dough .

Different flour brands are gonna react differently .

Ok .

So it might be a little dry , it might be a little flaky and if it's feeling a little , then you may need to add additional water about a tablespoon at a time until you get a nice cohesive dough .

Need that for about three minutes by hand or until your dough is beautifully smooth and extensible .

Roll into a light bowl , grease and medium sized bowl pop that brother in there cover with plastic wrap and rise at room tempt for one hour or in the fridge overnight .

You want it puffy , festively plump and nearly doubled .

Now , since your dough is extraordinarily knotty , punch it down , teach you a lesson .

Once it's degassed , pop it onto a lightly flowered work and divide your dough into eight even pieces .

For those that are extra like me and you want it to be exact , then you want it to be 87 g per piece of dough .

Give or take a few grams .

Shout out to the metric system .

I really appreciate the rest of the world that uses it .

Roll each piece of dough into a light bulb and rest for five minutes .

Now , flour work surface and a piece of dough roll that out into eight inch circles .

Using a flour rolling pin .

Should look something like this .

If the dough is resisting your rolling , please just let it rest another 10 minutes before you keep going .

Ok .

The dough is saying no , just give it a break anyway , once you've rolled out all of your pieces of dough , place it on a plate and use pieces of wax paper to separate each piece .

Now , a very quick luscious garlic butter .

Well , clarified butter to be specific in a small sauce pan , it melts a quarter cup or 60 g of Gee until hot but not searingly hot .

We're not frying over here 200 °F .

If you're a stickler there as well , Josh , what is G , I don't know what that is .

Ok .

Gee is clarified butter .

You can buy it at the store or you can make it and we've done it before .

You're Welcome to use regular butter if you don't have it or you can't find it , Josh , what's the problem with using regular butter ?

Well , I'm glad you asked because water contains a little bit of milk solids and water that it may have the tendency to add a slight bit of sogginess to your nan .

Is it permissible ?

Of course , but it's not perfect .

And Joshi loves perfect cut off the heat and add three cloves of very finely chopped garlic .

Let that cool slightly and then add one tablespoon or 3 g of very finely chopped cilantro .

Now for the moment of truth , how do you cook in a tour ?

Well , we're gonna learn together .

Alright , because uh this is actually my first time ever using one .

So here we go , reminder the alternative to this is coming but why not enjoy this moment .

Ok .

This to door wasn't cheap .

So please enjoy it .

First .

You need a nice hot wood coal base inside your tan door .

The goal is to get the part closest to the coals around 600 °F and taper to around 400 °F towards the top .

Then you need a non pillow also called Aga .

Am I pronouncing that right ?

Look , I'm trying , ok , I'm trying for you .

Search your non over your non pillow .

Don't want to go to sleep on it then quickly plant your non directly on the surface of the inside of your tan door .

Really makes sure to press against the wall .

So it hears and sticks nicely and watch this .

Good Lord .

Beautiful mountainous terrain erupts from the non getting it closer to the coal base .

Thus browning the face of your non as it gently falls into my hand while I nearly burn the ever loving shit out of myself .

It's very hot in there in just a few brief seconds .

It's done .

Immediately .

Brush that bad boy with your clarified garlic butter while it's still piping hot .

So it absorbs every last ounce of flavor .

And now on for the non tandoor homies , you're gonna recreate the tandoor by heating a medium to large cast iron skillet over medium high heat until hotter than a metal park bench sitting in the open sun .

Get a rolled piece of non slap it in there once it's puffed nicely , about 30 to 40 seconds simply flip and cook on the other side for another 30 seconds .

Immediately brush with your garlic butter .

Fill it out and that's it .

Keep those bad boys warmed on a plate in the oven or covered with foil .

Listen , this next part is extremely important and no , it's not the chicken .

It's the rice .

Not only is Uncle Roger watching what people are watching .

Rice is one of the greatest things to grace this earth .

So please begin with one cup of 200 g of aged basmati rice which you irrefutably must wash .

Not negotiate with yourself once washed heat one tablespoon or 15 g of Gee in a medium sized pan over medium heat once hot , add in your rice in a pinch of salt to taste toast .

Stirring off for about five minutes or until you start to see some light golden hues intensify from the rice .

Pour that into a rice cooker along with one cup of 225 g of water .

Of course , at this point , you can add cumin seeds if you like close the lid , turn on the rice cooker and let it do its little tang .

If you got a Zoi , she it's gonna play that good old fashioned dole and you'll be given the gift of lovely fragrant rice .

Now , we must run through two very important sauces before we get to precious chicken tandoori .

And thankfully both can be done in 10 minutes .

First , Aria in a medium sized bowl , add one cup or 140 g of full fat yogurt .

The zest of one lemon , two tablespoons or 5 g of finely chopped fresh cilantro .

Half a seedless cucumber .

Finally diced a generous pinch of ground coriander , a generous pinch of ground cumin .

The juice of one lemon and salt to taste was together and that's it .

It's tangy , salty and more refreshing than the finest hydration supplement on the market .

Moving on to Green chutney again .

Stupid easy in a blender .

Add one bunch or 80 g of fresh , one cup or 15 g of mint leaves , three cloves of garlic , two tablespoons of 25 g of roasted peanuts .

Two Serrano chilies , rough chop , a quarter inch snob of ginger peeled , one teaspoon or 1 g of ground fennel powder .

The juice of half a lime top your lid and begin blending on medium speed , adding water as needed to loosen and just as soon as the starts of vortex blend on high speed until as smooth as possible .

Seasoned tastes with salt , mix it in and places to the side for your tandoori chicken .

Yes , it's time .

Ideally you want to start this the day before , but you can do it the day of if that's all you got in a large bowl , add 1.5 cups of 336 grams of full fat yogurt .

A one in snob or 23 g of grated ginger , five cloves of garlic grated a generous pinch of fresh ground black pepper , one tablespoon or 15 g of lemon juice , two teaspoons or 8 g of coriander powder .

Pause .

Let me just explain .

There's a lot of spices in here .

That's OK .

Chill out and don't forget to subscribe .

I hope you're having a fantastic day .

Anyway , 1.5 teaspoons or 13 g of garam masala powder , 1.5 teaspoons or 9 g of cumin powder , two tablespoons or 34 g of Cashmere chili powder , two tablespoons or 40 g of Kosher salt optionally which you see this quite a lot in traditional recipes .

About a half teaspoon of red food coloring .

Whisk that bad boy in and then finally whisk in two tablespoons or 30 g of paprika , half a cup or 120 mL of vegetable oil and whisk the brother until homogenous .

Now let's talk chicken leg quarter .

The iconic piece of chicken for tandoori chicken .

Judge what that chicken ?

That quarter .

Well , that's what happens when you remove the chicken leg and the goddamn drumsticks attached to the thigh .

It's iconic .

It looks great and you can always cut it apart after cooking .

Now , the next part is a little unusual for us because I love the skin , but you're gonna need to wriggle your little thingy under the chicken skin and carefully peel it off all the way should come off quite easily .

Actually repeat with four total chicken leg quarters .

Plop those in your marinade , cook those thoroughly every little crevice , an ideally marinade covered overnight in the fridge or you can cook them right away .

It's fine .

They just won't be as well flavored .

Now , for the to door method , you're gonna need one of these big to door skewers skew your chicken running down the thigh bone and then out the drumstick .

Repeat with all your chicken pieces .

You may only be able to fit three depending on the depth of your tan door , which means you'll have to do a separate one .

It's fine , then create a stopper by wrapping a long thread of cooking twine at the base of your last chicken leg quarter .

Be sure to tie off your twine by the way .

So it's not it .

Then pop that bad boy into your to door and let it roast for about 15 to 20 minutes .

Moving it around to avoid burning until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 °F .

And it's nicely charred in randomized spots .

The other alternative would be to well cook this on a ripping hot grill or a grill pan .

Heat up , whichever the two over medium high until it's so God dang hot .

Do you want to pull your hand back ?

Just looking at it .

Now , grease those grates or grill pan generously with oil .

Add your chicken and sear for 2 to 3 minutes or until it nicely colored and charred flip and sear for two more minutes .

Now , if it's on a grill , close the lid of your grill , lower the heat or you can toss your grill pan in and ovens at the 375 °F and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the internal temperature of 165 °F is achieved .

All that's left to do is get sauces and rains plate up your rice .

Gaze upon the glistening non pop on a plate .

Get everything looking beautiful .

Add your chicken leg quarter shingled on a plate .

Feel free to add some thinly sliced white onion and lemon wedges .

Maybe a little fresh bundle of cilantro .

Why not ?

Pops ?

Nice .

And now we taste test .

We've unveiled the mystery of tandoori chicken and here it is .

Wow , you're not gonna get a tandoori flavored chicken without a tan , right .

I burned myself .

Here .

Was it worth it ?

Yeah .

Jesus .

If you could smell this right now , you need to wear two layers of underwear .

I know this is about the tandoori chicken but this non is like the main course .

It's like buttery , flaky .

It melts in your mouth .

The chew is like , I , I , I can't even think of a term that solidifies how good it is .

Obviously the rice .

It's buttery , it's toasty .

You got , you get the fragrance from the basmati .

Normally , what I do is I put a little lemon on this , take a little piece of the chicken off there .

You could put it with the non or you can eat it straight up .

There's a certain char that you will not get anywhere else .

It's juicy , it's tender .

I feel like a nice chicken leg and this is obviously one of the best ways to have it , period .

The one thing that we can walk away learning is that if you take the time to do things the right way , then you might just end up with something really dope .

But you wanna know what else is dope , bro .