Tandoori Chicken ? boldest of all!

Say Indian style of chicken and Tandoori Chicken comes to mind! When served on the bone, it is one of the most favoured starters in any Indian restaurant, be it in India or abroad. For chicken curry, the best bird for the table would be a very small chicken weighing about 450 to 550 grams and around 6 weeks old. Spring chickens are 3 months old and weigh between 900 to 1125 grams. These are ideal for roasting. The larger chickens that are up to one year old and weigh 1350 to 1800 grams are a little low in fatty tissues and sometimes do not make an ideal tandoori dish.

Tandoori Chicken - its spicy crisp outer covering, flesh so succulent, subtly flavoured with spices! Add a dash of lemon and Tandoori Chicken becomes an excellent start to a meal. Though Chicken Tikka may have taken over the palate, the real, real thing lies in chicken cooked whole in the tandoor. The marinade and cooking style for Chicken Tikka and Tandoori Chicken are the same.

To make Tandoori Chicken, cut 1 whole (800 grams) chicken into 4 pieces ? 2 legs and 2 breasts. Make incisions with a sharp knife on them. Place the chicken pieces in a deep bowl. Mix together 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon salt and apply it to the chicken pieces. Cover the bowl with a cling film and set aside to marinate for ½ hour preferably in the refrigerator. To make the marinade remove whey of 1 cup yogurt by hanging it in a muslin cloth for 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the drained yogurt into a bowl, add the 2 tablespoons ginger paste, 2 tablespoons garlic paste, 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon garam masala powder and 2 tablespoons filtered mustard oil and mix. Apply this marinade to the chicken pieces so that all the pieces are well covered with it. Cover the bowl again with cling film and keep it in the refrigerator to marinate for 3 to 4 hours. Cut 2 red onions into round slices and then separate the rings. Keep them soaked in iced water for ½ hour. Drain well and place them in a bowl and keep it in the refrigerator till needed. This will keep the onions crisp. Preheat the oven to 200ºC / 400ºF. Put the chicken pieces onto the skewers and cook in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until almost done. Baste it with butter and cook for 8 minutes more. Sprinkle chaat masala and serve with onion rings and lemon wedges. Traditionally Tandoori Chicken is cooked in a tandoor, which is a clay oven. To make Chicken Tikka, use boneless chicken pieces cut into 1½ inch cubes and proceed as for Tandoori Chicken.