Ashley Kitson
PHP geek and curry monster
The Big Boys Curry Book
Tandoori Farcha. Chicken Tandoori
The classic Punjabi dish. The closest we can get to it in the home is when we fire up the barbecue, so it is ideal for our purposes. Although chicken is normally used, you can tandoor lamb and potatoes very successfully. In the case of potatoes, you would roast them in the oven. If you really must have a tandoor oven, search the web, domestic versions are available. I have one which is fired by charcoal and is great for summer parties
Ingredients
- 3lb (1.3kg) Chicken.
- Tandoori Marinade x 3
- Lemon wedges for garnish
Method
- Skin the chicken and chop or cut it into large bite size pieces.
- Wash and thoroughly dry the chicken pieces
- Where the chicken pieces are quite fleshy, score the flesh deeply with a sharp knife. We are aiming to get the marinade right into the chicken and also ensure that it cooks on the barbecue.
- Put chicken into marinade and push marinade into pieces. Use your hands. Cover bowl and leave in a cool place for 12-36 hours. The longer it is left, the more intense and deeper the flavour, the easier the chicken will cook.
- Place chicken pieces on barbecue and cook until singed black in parts. Check that the pieces are cooked by prising open a piece with a sharp knife. If not replace on barbecue. You can also place in an oven to complete cooking if you are cooking other meats. If you are worried at all about uncooked chicken, especially leg pieces, and have a microwave, pop them in the microwave for 4 minutes at top power prior to barbecuing.
- Serve with lemon wedges.
Notes.
You can of course use a grill for cooking the meat. I have also had great results with using a whole chicken, skinned and scored, and put in a rotisserie oven (i.e on a spit.) Cooking this way, a whole 3lb chicken typically takes about 50 mins at 220 degrees. Put a whole lemon that has been stabbed into the carcass to get a lovely moist meal. If you want to use this dish as a starter in a main meal, aim for about 6oz (170g) of meat per person. This can be drumstick, thigh or breast. Serve on bed of green salad with a lemon wedge with half a Nan.