Tandoori Murgh

Tandoori Murgh

It is famously said that the sense of smell is one that creates and fosters your appetite and Tandoori Murgh is one of the most popular non-vegetarian dishes in any Punjabi household. This dish is usually made in a typical clay oven used in North India called Tandoor but it’s not necessary …it can be prepared in any type of griller or oven. All that matters for this dish are the correct spices and the proper overnight marination of the chicken.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:

·         1 kg medium sized chicken pieces, skin removed, washed and drained

·         1 1/2 tsps finely grated garlic (avoid using readymade paste, the fresh crushed garlic adds to the flavour)

·         2 tsps finely grated ginger

·         1 tsp red chilli powder

·         1 tsp coriander powder

·         Salt to taste

·         1 tsp of homemade Chaat Masala*

·         3-4 tsp lemon juice

·         3 tsp vinegar

·         2 tbsps hung curd

·         ¼ tsp cardamom powder or 4 pieces of cardamom crushed

·         A stick of Dalchini or Cinnamon

·         A pinch of orange colour (optional)

·         3 tsp of oil

Preparation:

·         Prick each chicken piece a few times with a fork. This helps to absorb flavours.

·         Mix all the ingredients well except chicken pieces in a large, shallow dish to form a thick paste.

·         Mix the paste prepared above with chicken pieces, making sure to coat each piece well and place in an airtight box and leave overnight (preferred) or atleast for 6 hours minimum in the refrigerator.

·         Preheat the oven to 240º C (it is supposed to be very hot). Tandoor is always very hot, so your oven must be pre-heated to maximum for tandoori dishes

·          Spray some oil on the pieces.

·         Place chicken pieces on the tray in the middle shelf and cook in the hot oven, until crisp and burnt orange coloured. The time varies for different ovens but it usually takes around 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven. You may need to turn the pieces over half way through cooking so that all the pieces are evenly cooked. Avoid opening the oven repeatedly as you lose the heat generated. You may need to drain off the excess liquid from the cooking tray halfway through, so that the cooked chicken is not moist.

·         After 20 minutes of cooking increase the oven temperature to 300º C so that the tandoor flavour can be obtained.

·         Squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle Chaat Masala over the pieces just before serving. Garnish with chopped coriander and lemon wedges. Serve hot, arranged in a platter with Dhaba Salad and green chutney.

Chaat Masala:

·         ½ tsp black salt or kala namak

·         ½ tsp black pepper powder

·         ½ tsp roasted jeera powder

·         ½ tsp Amchoor powder or dry mango powder

Mix all the above and store in an airtight container.

Dhaba Salad:

·         Slices of onion rings washed

·         Salt and red chilli powder to taste

·         Lemon juice

Mix all the above and add chopped coriander.

Enjoy this dish....