Easy Tandoori Chicken - A Quick Fix or Impress at Your Next Barbeque

These marinated chicken pieces are great to take to a barbeque where you are supposed to bring something to throw on the grill. It will add an interesting flare without being spicy (hot). They are a great introduction to Indian cuisine for the uninitiated. For traditional, serve over Basmati Rice. For a summertime treat, slice the onto a green salad or use the meat for an amazing chicken salad with dried cranberries and pecans.

  

Tandoori Chicken

 

Note –  This is super easy as you just dump everything together. They often have large packages of thighs and legs on sale. I’ve used both bone-in and boneless and either works great. I had 6 thighs one time and made half of the recipe. When I did 12 thighs I cut the meat off the ones we didn’t eat and made a yummy chicken salad (use a little less mayo because of the marinade on the chicken adds sauce).

For oven use a shallow baking pan lined with foil

Ingredients:

12-16 skinless bone-in chicken thighs (or thighs and drumsticks)

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

Juice of 2 limes or lemons

2 Tablespoon minced peeled ginger root (I keep a jar of chopped ginger in fridge $1.99 in produce section)

2 Tablespoon minced garlic (I keep a jar of chopped garlic in fridge $1.99 in produce section)

2 tsp. coriander powder

2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp garam masala

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne

Juice of 2 limes or additional lemons to squeeze over when serving.

Instructions:

--Rinse chicken and pat dry thoroughly. Cut diagonal slits against the grain, almost to the bone.

--In a large shallow non reactive bowl, mix together yogurt, lime/lemon juice, ginger garlic coriander, cumin, garam masala, salt, paprika and cayenne. Add chicken, turning to coat and making sure marinade goes inot all slits. 

--Cover and marinate in refrigerator for about 2 hours or up to 12 hours.

--Preheat oven to 375. Remove chicken from marinade and place prepared shallow baking pan. Discard any remaining marinade. 


--Bake in preheated oven until juices run clear when the chicken is pierced, about 45 minutes.

--Transfer pieces to heated platter and squeeze lime juice over the top while still warm. Discard accumulated juices. Garnish with onion rings and lemon wedges.