Tandoori Chicken
This was stolen from Chef Tiffani Faison and I watched her make it on Simply Ming. She used fresh whole herbs ground and toasted for the dish. I don’t do that. She also committed some spices flavors that I normally associate with tandoori so I tweaked it a bit.
Ingredients:
1 whole frying chicken – 2.5 pounds, spatchcocked and scored
1 tsp yellow mustard seed (or 1 Tbs prepared Mustard)
1 Tbs whole cumin (or 1/2 Tbs ground cumin)
1 Tbs whole coriander (1/2 Tbs of ground coriander)
1 cup full fat Greek or Indian yogurt
1 Tbs garam masala
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs paprika
1 tsp cayenne (This will be very spicy, I usually start with a 1/2 or 1/4 tsp based upon the audience)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp kosher salt
4 garlic cloves, peeled and grated on microplane
2 Tbs fresh ginger, peeled and grated on microplane
Instructions:
- Spatchcock your chicken (just cut up will work too)
- Toast the yellow mustard seed, whole cumin and whole coriander and grind, leaving the mixture a little coarse.
- In a large bowl, add the yogurt, paprika, cayenne, turmeric, garam marsala, the coarsely ground spices and the garlic, lemon juices salt and ginger.
- Mix all ingredients in the marinade together and rub into and on the chicken.
- Apply the marinade to the entire chicken, Rub the marinade into the slits in the chicken. Put chicken into a large ziplock bag or covered dish and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
- Set up your grill for indirect cooking.. Rub the grill with an oil soaked towel to prevent the chicken from sticking. Get the hot side of the grill very hot to give the chicken’s skin a quick and deep browning or charing.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade. Shake off excess. It needs to be covered but not with globs falling off when you put it on the hot side of the grill.
- Allow the chicken to brown or even char abit on all sides (~2-3 minutes per side)
- The move to cool side of the grill, cover and cook chicken for 30-40 minutes until juices run clear and the internal temp is reached (160 degrees white meat,165 for dark meat).
- Allow chicken to rest a full 5 minutes before serving.
Serve with Jasmine Rice, and Naan.