Tandoori Marinade

Recipe by DailyInspiration

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Tandoori Marinade

YIELD:

Ingredients Nutrition

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 ⁄₄ teaspoon garam masala
• 1 ⁄₈ teaspoon ground red pepper

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and marinate meat and/or vegetables before grilling.

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Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 1 (276 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amt. Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 173.9 Calories from Fat 79 46% Total Fat 8.8 g 13% Saturated Fat 5.2 g 26% Cholesterol 31.9 mg 10% Sodium 2443.7 mg 101% Total Carbohydrate 15.8 g 5% Dietary Fiber 1.2 g 4% Sugars 11.6 g 46% Protein 9.5 g 19%

Tandoori Chicken (Marinade)

Recipe by Oolala

Tandoori Chicken (Marinade)

SERVES:

Ingredients Nutrition

• 3 1 ⁄₂ lbs skinless chicken pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 ⁄₂ teaspoon red pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
• 4 ounces butter, melted, to be used after marination
• 1 ⁄₂ teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds, roasted
• 1 lemon, sliced into wedges
• 2 tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 onion, thinly sliced into rings
• 1 green pepper, seeded and sliced into strips (use chili pepper if you like)

Directions

1. Place chicken in a shallow baking dish and pierce with a knife in 2-3 places on both sides of chicken.
2. In a bowl, place garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, red pepper, and salt, and blend with a spoon.
3. Add yogurt, vinegar and lemon juice (optional) and blend well.
4. Rub marinade into gashes in the chicken pieces.
5. Cover and refrigerate and let stand at room temperature until dish can safely be placed in the oven,.
6. Baste the chicken pieces with half of the melted butter, 2 oz., and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
7. Remove chicken from the oven and baste with the remaining 2 oz. of butter, sprinkle with paprika.
8. Broil or grill for 6-8 minutes, turning pieces once.
9. Garnish with roasted cumin seeds and place on a serving dish.
10. Serve atop a bed of tomato slices, onions and green peppers with lemon wedges.

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Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 1 (373 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 4

Amt. Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 474.6 Calories from Fat 271 57% Total Fat 30.2 g 46% Saturated Fat 16.5 g 82% Cholesterol 184.1 mg 61% Sodium 898.5 mg 37% Total Carbohydrate 13.4 g 4% Dietary Fiber 3.8 g 15% Sugars 4.6 g 18% Protein 40.1 g 80%

Tandoori Marinade

• 15 mins
• Prep: 10 mins,
• Cook: 5 mins
• Yield: about 2 1/2 cups (1 serving)

This delicious tandoori marinade is the perfect compliment to grilled meats, seafood, and vegetables. Toast the spices for added flavor or simply mix and use.

What You'll Need

• 1/4 cup onion (pureed)
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 teaspoons ginger (fresh, minced)
• 1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)
• 3 tablespoons cumin powder
• 1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper (chili powder works)
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lemon (juiced)
• 1 1/2 cups ​yogurt (plain)
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree (or tomato paste)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

How to Make It

1. Heat oil in pan. Add pureed onion, minced garlic, and ginger. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add spices and cook for another 2 minutes. If mixture is too dry, add in 1-2 tablespoons of water. The spices should be paste-like. Remove pot from heat and add in lemon juice, yogurt, salt, cilantro, and tomato paste. Mix well. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature before using as marinade.

2. If you opt to toast the spices, make sure they are in their whole form.

For instance, replace black pepper with peppercorns, cumin powder with cumin seeds, and use whole cloves. Toast in a small skillet over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, until spices become fragrant. Move spices around while they toast or else they will burn. Remove from pan and either grind by hand with mortar and pestle or place into a spice grinder on a medium-grind setting. Follow the rest of the instructions above for the perfect marinade.

3. Marinate beef, pork, and lamb for 6-12 hours, chicken for 4-8 hours, fish, seafood and vegetables for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Tandoori Yogurt Marinade

Tandoori Yogurt Marinade 150 Image by: Tandoori Yogurt Marinade 150 Author: Canadian Living

Tandoori Yogurt Marinade

Mellow yogurt teams with exotic spices to give an Indian flair to this marinade, which is suited to chicken and lamb. Red colouring is often added to give the iconic red hue, but we chose to omit it here.

• Portion size 1 serving
• Credits : Canadian Living Magazine: July 2012

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups 2% plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Nutritional facts Per 2 tbsp: about

• Fibre trace
• Sodium 304 mg
• Sugars 1 g
• Protein 1 g
• Calories 21.0
• Total fat 1 g
• Potassium 83 mg
• Cholesterol 2 mg
• Saturated fat trace
• Total carbohydrate 3 g

Nutritional facts Per 2 tbsp: about

• Fibre trace
• Sodium 304 mg
• Sugars 1 g
• Protein 1 g
• Calories 21.0
• Total fat 1 g
• Potassium 83 mg
• Cholesterol 2 mg
• Saturated fat trace
• Total carbohydrate 3 g

Tandoori Yogurt Marinade

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Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori chicken gets its name from the bell-shaped tandoor clay oven which is also used to make naan, or Indian flatbread.

Skinless legs and thighs are marinated in a tenderizing mixture of yogurt, lemon juice, and spices and the meat is slashed to the bone in several places helping the marinade penetrate and the chicken cook more quickly.

The chicken gets its characteristic red hue from either lots of fiery chile or the addition of red food dye.

We’re not that big on food dyes here, so we’ve skipped it, but if you must have your chicken bright red, feel free to add a bit of red food dye to the marinade.

You don’t need a tandoor oven to make tandoori chicken! (Thank goodness). You can cook it over a grill (charcoal preferred) or just in an oven with a broiler.

The key to tandoori chicken is to use bone-in thighs and legs (yay! our favorite cuts) because they have enough fat to stay moist under the heat of the grill. We don’t recommend this dish with chicken breasts, they’ll dry out too easily.

The pieces should be skinless. Here’s a trick though, if you find yourself with extra skins (we bought our pieces skin-on), soak them in the marinade and slowly fry them until crispy. Better than bacon.

Tandoori Chicken Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Marinating time: 6 hours
• Yield: Serves 4-6

If you don't have a grill, you can broil the chicken for a few minutes on each side to get some browning, then finish in a 325°F oven until done.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 Tbsp garam masala
• 1 Tbsp sweet (not hot) paprika
• 1 cup plain yogurt (can sub buttermilk)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 whole chicken legs (drumsticks and thighs), or its equivalent, skinless, bone-in

1 Heat the spices in oil: Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat, then cook the coriander, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, garam masala and paprika, stirring often, until fragrant (approximately 2-3 minutes). Let cool completely.

2 Whisk into yogurt, add lemon juice, garlic, salt, ginger: Whisk in the cooled spice-oil mixture into the yogurt, then mix in the lemon juice, garlic, salt and ginger.

3 Cut deep slashes into chicken, coat with marinade, chill: Cut deep slashes (to the bone) in 3-4 places on the leg/thigh pieces. Just make 2-3 cuts if you are using separate drumsticks and thighs. Coat the chicken in the marinade, cover and chill for at least an hour (preferably 6 hours), no more than 8 hours.

4 Prepare grill: Prepare your grill so that one side is quite hot over direct heat, the other side cooler, not over direct heat. If using charcoal, leave one side of the grill without coals, so you have a hot side and a cooler side. If you are using a gas grill, just turn on one-half of the burners.

Use tongs to wipe the grill grates with a paper towel soaked in vegetable oil.

5 Shake off excess marinade, place chicken on hot side of grill: Take the chicken out of the marinade and shake off the excess. You want the chicken coated, but not gloppy.

Put the chicken pieces on the hot side of the grill and cover. Cook 2-3 minutes before checking.

Turn the chicken so it is brown (even a little bit charred) on all sides

6 Move to cool side of grill, cover and cook: Move chicken to the cool side of the grill. Cover and cook for at least 20 minutes, up to 40 minutes (or longer) depending on the size of the chicken and the temperature of the grill. The chicken is done when its juices run clear.

Let it rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. It’s also great at room temperature or even cold the next day.

Serve with naan, and Indian flatbread, or with Indian style rice, with yogurt-based raita on the side.

Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to Tandoori Chicken on Simply Recipes. Thank you!

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Showing 4 of 22 Comments

• Cee Grant

It was great! But … Bones add fat? I don’t get it. What is the science of that statement?

• October 8, 2017
• · 1 Reply

Arthur Davalos-Matthews

I haven’t cooked it yet but the flavor of the marinade was exceptional, but the color looks green. Could it be because I used hungarian paprika? I don’t want to use food coloring.

• July 15, 2017

Aimee

Can I marinate and freeze?

• · 1 Reply

Maaike

just made this and it was truly delicious thanks for the recipe! It just turned out the way the picture looked like and that doesnt happen often with me :)

My brother and sister-in-law lived in Pakistan for several years and traveled in India, and they said this was the best Tandoori chicken they ever had. This one will be a house favorite; Elise, I don’t know how you do it, but your recipes are just consistently the best on the internet. Thanks for all the wonderful meals we have had using your site!

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Welcome to Simply Recipes

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Tandoori Marinade

Product Info

Our Tandoori Marinade recipe is based on a traditional North Indian specialty, the most popular marinade style for delicious, tender meats. While many recipes use artificial red color, ours uses only natural ingredients.

• Medium Spicy

Nutrition Basics

• Calories 15
• Fat 1g
• Sodium 220mg
• Carbohydrates 1g
• Fiber 0g
• Protein 0g

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 9g

Serving Per Container 8-10

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

INGREDIENTS: Vinegar, Curry Paste (Lemongrass, Spices, Garlic, Shallot, Salt, Spices, Kaffir Lime Peel, Turmeric), Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Spices, Salt, Garlic Powder, Lemon Juice, Natural Flavor, Onion Powder, Citric Acid (For Flavor), Bay Leaf.

Tandoori-Marinated Chicken with Cucumber, Lime, and Chiles

Indian cuisine celebrates chicken in remarkable ways, and this dish was inspired by classic tandoori cooking. Rich flavors result from rubbing the bird with a fragrant paste of spices, onion, and yogurt (which acts as a tenderizer) and letting it infuse the meat. The cucumber, lime, and chiles provide sharp, bright contrast to the seductively scented roast.

Source: Martha Stewart Living, January 2011

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Tandoori Sauce/Marinade (Concentrate)

Our Tandoori paste is a highly-seasoned classic East Indian-style marinade used to give food the authentic flavour of tandoor oven cooking. So handy and versatile to use, we suggest you always have one ready and available in the pantry to make quick meals, barbecues and sauces.

How much does it make?

180g concentrate makes 2kg protein for 12 meals

cost per serve?

$1.25 per serve (paste only) or under $5 per meal*

Buy from Australia

The Process

When we arrive back in the kitchen the next morning we are greeted by our delivery of fresh ingredients from the markets including fresh Australian brown onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, coriander, mint and chillies to name a few.

Each of the ingredients is individually chopped and prepared.

Once the ingredients are ready, a large pot with oil is added to the stove then filled with onions and cooked until most of the liquid evaporates. A selection of fragrant aromatics including the garam masala, ground mace and fresh grated nutmeg are added to the onions and cooked through. When the flavours develop, the rest of the fresh ingredients are added.

The team combine all the remaining pure ground spices required in this formulation in a large container before masterfully blending it into the pot. First by hand then by fixing on an the agitator to ensure a proper even mix without any air pockets.

Once blended completely, the fresh herbs so essential to this paste are crushed and then combined with other wet ingredients including tomato paste, lemon juice, vinegar and yogurt powder. We pour it in and taste immediately, mostly because it is so delicious!

The paste is cooked until the flavours completely combine and then the mix is bottled.

Make it cooler : This can be further cooled with yogurt, fresh cream, sour cream, cream fraiche, buttermilk or coconut cream.

Make it less creamy : For a less cream based sauce, make a nutty, tangy, herb based tomato sauce by blending fresh lemon juice, fresh coriander and mint leaves, fresh tomatoes and with almond or cashew meal.

Make it hotter : Simply add fresh chilli.

Allergy Note

• This product contains milk product.
• May contain traces of peanuts.

Ingredients

Tomatoes, onions, green chillies, sunflower oil, spices, water, ginger, garlic, fresh coriander and mint leaves, yoghurt powder, lemon juice, vinegar, salt. Contains milk product. May contain traces of peanuts.

REFRIGERATE AFTER OPENING AND USE WITHIN 8 WEEKS OF OPENING. ALWAYS USE A DRY, STERILISED SPOON.

Tandoori Chicken

Ingredients

• 5 cloves
• 2 dried guajillo chiles (if you can't find these, then use 2 chiles de arbol, and more paprika for color)
• 2 green cardamom, husks discarded, seeds retained
• 1 black cardamom, husk discarded, seeds retained
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1 cup whole fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup peanut or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons malt vinegar or lime juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-inch thumb ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 packet boneless skinless chicken thighs (1 1/2 pounds usually)
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Couple of extra limes, for garnish

Directions

To make the marinade, toast the cloves, whole chiles, both types of cardamom seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds in a cast-iron skillet until fragrant, 3 minutes or so, shaking the pan. Then, pour the spices into a spice grinder and grind them until you get a fine powder.

In large bowl, whisk together the spice mixture you just made with the yogurt, oil, malt vinegar, salt, ground cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garlic and ginger until well combined. It should smell amazing! Taste and adjust with more salt if it needs it.

Reserve 1/3 cup of the marinade and set aside; you're going to make a sauce out of this reserved marinade.

Prick the chicken thighs with a fork. Add the thighs to the rest of the marinade, and toss to coat. Marinate at least 1 hour in the fridge, and at most overnight.

When you're ready to cook, line a baking sheet with foil, and turn your broiler on. Place each chicken thigh on the baking sheet, making sure each one is coated with the marinade, but isn't swimming in it. Cook the chicken thighs under the broiler until starting to blacken, about 5 minutes. Then turn the oven to 350, and cook until a meat thermometer inserted in the meatiest part of the thigh registers 160 degrees F, another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.

While the chicken is cooking, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan, along with 1/2 cup water and the honey. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-low heat, whisking all the time. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl or gravy boat for serving.

Serve the chicken thighs on a platter with a fresh squeeze of lime and a drizzle of the sauce.

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Tandoori

Traditional Indian open fire cooking

Most people seem to think that tandoori is a recipe. Like many of the world's great dishes, this is actually a cooking method that has become synonymous with the food that is prepared. Put simply tandoori is a marinated meat cooked over an intense fire in a tandoor. A tandoor is a clay oven in which a hot fire is built. Marinated meats are lowered into the oven on long metal skewers and cooked in this smoky and extremely hot environment until done.

As I said, a tandoor is a clay oven, it fact it is basically little more than a very large play pot, large enough to hold a good-sized fire and then all the food that gets placed in it. Typically a tandoor is dug into the ground or built into an enclosure. The real secret is that heat can only escape it through the top. The direct heat of the fire is reflected by the ceramic sides intensifying the heat and creating a cooking environment that easily reaches 500 degrees F. It is buried or enclosed to hold in the heat and to keep anyone from coming in contact with the outside surface.

The marinade used in most any tandoori dish starts with yogurt. While this might sound a little strange this is actually perfect for marinating meats because it has a natural acidity and it is thick so it holds to the meat well and keeps the herbs and spices in place. The flavor of the yogurt (always plain) is so mild you typically don't even taste it.

If you choose not to use yogurt in your marinade that's fine too, just make sure that you work the spices into the meat to get as much flavor as possible.

As for the spices, tandoori is marinated or rubbed with a great combination of spices. The first thing you will notice is the color. Tandoori dishes are usually very red or very yellow; this depends on the marinade ingredients.

The red is provided by ground annatto seeds which can be somewhat difficult to find at your local store. The yellow comes from saffron which can be very expensive. Of course, you can always go with the cheaper solution: turmeric.

In addition, to the colors provided by the spices, tandoori is also flavored traditionally with ginger, garlic, coriander powder, cayenne pepper, and garam masala. Garam masala is a combination of roasted and ground cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and black pepper. This spice mixture is great on practically anything because it imparts a mellow but savory flavor to whatever you use it on. You adjust the heat of your tandoori dish by adding more or less cayenne pepper.

So, after you have combined your spices and yogurt, got the right color and heat, baste it over your meat. You want meats to sit in this thick marinade for several hours to absorb the flavors. Now you are ready to hit the grill. Remember that tandoori is cooked at very high temperatures and while you probably don't have a tandoor in the backyard your grill will do the job perfectly. Get your grill as hot as you can and keep it closed as much as possible. You want to start out at a high temperature and keep it that way.

Lift the lid only long enough to get the meat on the grill and to keep a close enough eye out to prevent burning.