We had a long weekend here. And Notting Hill Carnival.
Living with seven million people is so my thing. Sharing a weekend with most of them and tourists on rubbish-strewn West London streets totally isn’t.
We shoved a duvet, an aunt, one brother, chocolate and home-made Tandoori Chicken into the car and drove off to an idyllic Cambridge village to visit another brother.
The BBQ was ready for my glistening red chicken portions. I stood in a cloud of dark smoke, basting them with a mix of lime juice and vegetable oil. While Harry the dog and the relatives took it in turns to pace around the BBQ.
The result was soft, juicy, full of flavour. Worth every smokey moment. And escaping London for.
PS = To enjoy Tandoori Chicken properly I recommend using a tandoor or BBQ. You could grill it, but that wonderful charcoal smoked flavour will be MIA.
Feeds 8:
- 8 Chicken leg portions, 250 gm each
- 16 garlic cloves
- 4 inches ginger
- 4 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp whole cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp meat tenderiser
- 2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- 250gm plain yogurt
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tsp red food colouring
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt to taste
Skin the chicken, make two sideways slits - on the thigh and on the leg - and place in a rectangular dish.
Peel the ginger, garlic and whizz into a smooth paste with the whole seeds and half the yogurt in a food processor. Add the rest of the yogurt, the chilli powder, meat tenderiser, fenugreek, colouring and salt to the food processor bowl and mix well.
Check it for salt. You want this marinade to be overpowering in every way - salty, spicy, bitter - because the BBQ will soften the taste.
Now, smother the chicken leg portions with this marinade making sure every one of them is well coated. Then chill until you’re ready for the BBQ. I left it overnight but a few hours will be plenty.
When it’s on the tandoor or BBQ, mix the oil and lime juice together and baste the chicken portions twice during cooking. They will take a good half an hour to be ready, but make sure you open one up and check that the chicken juices run clear (not pink) before feeding people!
Tandoori chicken is perfect just on it’s own. But feel free to serve it with a lemony mixed salad and some hot naan.
13 Comments
We love tandori in this house. Will have to give this recipe a go. I can smell it now!!!
wow! you really seem to be grillin it up these days. nice ones
this looks soso nice,.perfect for singapore weather,,cause its rainin these days,..
Wow, that looks great! What a great idea to do it on the grill. I don’t blame you for escaping London!
Yummy! made this sans food colouring tho’, as it makes my girls go hyper/mental…sure tastes nice, and looks fine.. thanks for sharing!
yum! yeah i’ve got a pretty perfect picture of the carnival litter on my blog!
back friday we must meet up for gaanapati indian PLEASE!!!
xxxx
We would like to feature this recipe on our blog. Please email haleyglasco@gmail.com if interested. Thanks
Haley
http://blog.keyingredient.com/
I am delighted to hear that you are in olive magazine too. I have mislaid my copy which went to Shambala festival with me - and where, by the way, the litter louts were on the rampage. (And this a nice hippy festival too! You’d think they would know better). My youngest daughter loves tandoori chicken - I must try this. But I bet cooking them outside on a BBQ gives a smoky flavour that is more unobtainable indoors.
That chicken has a wonderful color! It looks so tasty!
Thank you for this and the last lamb one. I need this recipe - haven’t tried making tandoori yet.
Basting with lime juice is genius! Thanks for the recipe.
Namesake - that sounds and tastes absolutely delicious - let me at them!
That chicken looks so succulent and tasty. Just looking at that picture is making my mouth water. And I’m vegan.