Tandoori Chicken is a dish that I have had countless times at Indian restaurants. It’s probably a dish that all of us have had many times. Whether it is at a buffet or made to order, Tandoori Chicken always seems to be on the menu, but it is DEFINITELY not always good!I have had versions that are dry, look like red food coloring is the main ingredient, and taste bland for all the effort that seemed to go into it. Our grilled Tandoori chicken recipe, while definitely not “authentic,” comes out juicy and exploding with flavor and satisfies our tandoori chicken cravings!
Notes
Usually, Tandoori Chicken calls for the skin to be removed, but I left it on because you want that crispy chicken skin (obviously). You can decide for yourself, but be aware that skin-on chicken is more prone to flare-ups when grilling. You’ll have to watch the chicken more closely while it’s on the grill and flip the pieces more often to avoid hot spots--all reasonable trade-offs for some extra flavor!
Ingredients
- 3 ounces plain Greek yogurt - 85g
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons garlic - minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger - grated
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 2 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder - ground Indian red pepper, you can use cayenne or Korean red chili powder in a pinch
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds - ground, or coriander powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin seed - freshly ground, or powder
- ¾ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
- 6 chicken leg quarters - cut into drumsticks and thighs
Instructions
Marinate
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
- Use a sharp knife to cut slits into the chicken pieces; this will allow the marinade to really get into the chicken. 3 slits per drumstick and 4 to 5 per thigh should do the trick.
- Place the chicken in a large dish. Spread the marinade all over the chicken and let marinate at least 12 hours, but not more than 2 days.
- Be sure to take the chicken out of the refrigerator 3 to 4 hours prior to grilling, so the chicken can come to room temperature--kind of like how you never want to grill a cold steak. This is an important step since there will be marinade on the chicken, and it will burn if the chicken is left too long on the grill because its internal temperature is too low.
Grill
- Start your grill, and keep it covered until it reaches 500 degrees.
- Shake off the excess marinade before placing the chicken on the hot grill. Cook with the grill covered, but stay close to watch for excess smoke, a sure indicator that your chicken is charring!
- Turn the chicken as often as needed to prevent burning and keep the grill cover on so the chicken cooks through quickly. Our chicken took about 45 minutes, and we did have to turn and move the chicken pieces often.
- The chicken is done when the juices run clear when poked or, better yet, use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature near the bone. The optimal temperature for chicken is 165 degrees F.