I love Indian food and tandoori chicken is one of my favs. Traditionally, tandoori chicken is marinated in yogurt and spices and roasted in a tandoor, which is a circular shaped clay oven that gives the chicken a beautiful dark crust. Thankfully, you do not have to have a tandoor to make this fabulous chicken right in your own kitchen…
Roasting your marinated chicken in a nice, hot oven and finishing it under the broiler will help to recreate that same dark charred crust that tandoori chicken is so loved for.
Let’s get started…
Begin by placing 2 pounds of chicken into a large bowl. This tandoori chicken can be made with boneless or bone-in and skinless or skin-on chicken, the only thing that will change is the roasting time.
Add 2/3 cup of plain Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1 inch of grated ginger, 2 teaspoons of ground coriander, 2 teaspoons of chili powder, 2 teaspoons of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in with the chicken and mix until all of the chicken generously coated in the marinade.
Cover the bowl tightly and chill for anywhere between 2 to 18 hours before roasting.
When you are ready to roast your chicken, line a baking sheet with foil and place an oven safe cooking rack over the foil. Place the pieces of chicken onto the rack leaving a little bit of space in between each piece.
Transfer the chicken into a 400 degree oven and roast until the chicken is cooked through with an internal temperature of 165 degrees. This should take boneless skinless chicken breasts 25-28 minutes depending on how thick they are and 45-50 minutes for bone-in skin-on chicken breasts.
Once the chicken is cooked through, turn your ovens high broiler on until the chicken develops some beautiful charring on the edges. Do not leave the chicken alone while the broiler is on. Chicken can go from a perfect char to burnt in a matter of seconds, so keep a close eye on it and pull it out as soon as it looks deeply golden brown.
Isn’t that char so inviting? It is just begging to be shredded over a pita or dipped into a big bowl of tzatziki. I love squeezing some lemon over this chicken and enjoying it over a bowl of greens, some rice or in a mediterranean inspired bowl with arugula and crumbled feta. You have to give this one a try!
The next time you are looking for a delicious chicken recipe to use in so many fabulous mediterranean dishes then I would love for you to give this roasted tandoori chicken a try.
You’ll be glad that you did…
Roasted Tandoor Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of chicken
- 2/3 cup of plain greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1 inch of ginger, grated
- 2 teaspoons of ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons of chili powder
- 2 teaspoons of garam masala
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Instructions
- Combine 2/3 cup of plain Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1 inch of grated ginger, 2 teaspoons of ground coriander, 2 teaspoons of chili powder, 2 teaspoons of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon of salt with 2 pounds of chicken in a large bowl and mix until all of the chicken is generously coated in the marinade
- Cover the bowl tightly and chill for 2-18 hours
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
- Line a baking sheet with foil and place an oven safe cooking rack over the foil
- Place the marinated chicken onto the rack leaving a little space between each piece
- Roast in a 400 degree oven until the chicken is cooked through with an internal temperature of 165 degrees
- Once the chicken is cooked through, turn your ovens high broiler on and broil until the chicken is charred to your liking
- Enjoy with a squeeze of fresh lemon
