Tandoori chicken has to be one of the most well-known dishes of the Indian cuisine. When I was going for my cake decorating classes, I was the only Indian and the rest of the class consisted of Asian Americans. There were 2 from China,2 from Phillipines and 1 from Japan. The 2 dishes they asked me if knew to make was tandoori chicken and chicken curry :) Tandoori chicken always manages to hit the spot with me. Its a must now in our weddings but the caterers fry them instead of cooking it in a tandoor. In India we didnt have an oven at home, so we too used to fry these up. That recipe consisted of very basic ingredients like yoghurt,chilli powder,salt and garam masala. The following recipe is adapted from Nabeela’s blog but it seems she has gone private :(   In the following recipe cayenne pepper and paprika can be substituted for kashmiri chilli powder.

Ingredients:

2 chicken leg quarters
1 cup yoghurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup red onions
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 green chilli chopped
1 inch piece ginger
2 cloves garlic
4 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
6 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
3 tbsp cilantro/coriander leaves
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
salt to taste

Method:

Remove the skin and clean the chicken. Make a couple of slits on the chicken and keep aside.

Grind all the ingredients except the chicken quarters in a food processor or blender.

Once finely blended,  apply the masala generously on the chicken on both sides.

Take a vessel and keep the chicken pieces in that. Pour the remaining masala and keep it in the fridge overnight. Atleast 6 hours of marination is recommended.

Remove the chicken from the fridge 1 hour prior to baking. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Take a baking tray and arrange the chicken pieces on it. Donot put any extra masala in the tray.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. In the end keep the baking tray under the broiler for about 4 to 5 minutes so that it gets the beautiful charred look.

Serve hot with lemon wedges.

PS:  I am sending this to “Eat healthy-Protein Rich” event