Kitchen Groovy: Tandoori-Style Chicken

Friday, March 4, 2011

Tandoori-Style Chicken

In the last month, I have come across two separate recipes for Tandoori-Style Chicken. I'm not at all a believer in coincidence, so I took it as a pretty strong sign that I needed to make this dish. Sounds like a stretch, doesn't it?? It definitely could have been the fact that the 2nd time I came across it, I was looking for a good chicken recipe and that I hadn't eaten in 6 hours. You decide. Regardless, it sounded intriguing to me as I read over the ingredients.

It ended up being really good - AND, more importantly got the approval of Mr. Hubby, Miss Sunshine AND the hard to please 14 year old teenager. Of course, my oldest teenager wasn't home, but I just know she would have enjoyed it,too. Soooo . . . S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

Really, I was a bit surprised by the way it tasted. Considering all the spices and the fact that the recipe includes yogurt, onions and garlic, it ended up tasting much like . . . baked chicken. The flavors were not overwhelmingly strong like I thought it would be. So, for those of you with picky eaters in the house - young or old - this could be a safe bet for you! The name alone might make you want to dismiss this dish, but don't let its name fool you. It's not anything fancy, and I think anyone would enjoy this dish!

Note: The recipe calls for 1 4lb. chicken. I couldn't find it at the store, so I picked up 4 lbs. of chicken quarter legs instead. That's what you see in the picture.

Tandoori-Style Chicken
Original recipe by The Williams Sonoma Cookbook, pg. 191

1 chicken, 4 lb., patted dry and cut into serving pieces
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 C low fat plain yogurt
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 T minced fresh ginger
2 tsp. ground coriander seeds
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. sweet or hot Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp. each ground turmeric, cardamom, and cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 T canola oil
1 1/2 basmati rice, cooked according to package directions

Remove the skin from all of the chicken pieces except the wings. Place all the chicken pieces in a 9x13 baking dish and brush them with the lemon juice. To make the marinade, in a blender or food processor, combine the yogurt, onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne. Process until thoroughly combined. Pour the marinade over the chicken and stir to coat well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, turning occasionally, for at least 8 hours overnight.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Select a baking pan large enough to hold the chicken in a single layer and line it with aluminum foil. Transfer the chicken, with any clinging marinade, to the prepared baking pan. Drizzle with the oil. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast (but not touching the bone) registers 160 degrees F and the meat shows no sign of pink when the thickest parts are cut into near the bone, about 30 minutes. Serve hot with basmati rice.

This would go great with my Roasted Spicy Cauliflower recipe :-)