Grilled Tandoori Chicken (14 of 150)

Photo from Sweet C Designs

Just the smell of this marinade is enough to make my mouth water. If you've not had tandoori chicken, this is your chance.

Tandoori chicken is traditionally marinated in yogurt and spices and cooked in a clay oven. I don't have a clay oven, so the grill is what we did. 

The spices in this marinade make up a beautiful red-orange color - oh and it stains. Just FYI. 

Tandoori chicken is one of my favorites. This recipe is simple to throw together too. I used chicken breasts cut into cubes and marinaded for about 2 hours. Then grilled it to perfection. 

I also forgot the salt and pepper in the marinade. It was missed, but there was still a ton of flavor from all the other spices. 

Grilled Tandoori Chicken

Recipe from Sweet C Designs

Serves 4

• Chicken (thighs and drumsticks)
• 1 ¼ c Greek yogurt
• 2 T Ginger, sliced
• 6 cloves of Garlic
• 1 T Lemon Juice
• 1 T Salt
• 2 T Chili Powder
• 1 tsp of Turmeric
• 3 T Annatto powder of Kashmiri Chili powder
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Coriander
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 T Black Pepper

Wash your chicken and then trim off the fat and skin.

Once the skin is removed, take your knife and score the chicken in a cross-hatch pattern. This helps get the marinade on more surface area and will improve the browning of the chicken when you cook it.

In a glass container large enough to accommodate all of the chicken, plus the yogurt, lemon juice, and all the spices.

Peel your ginger with a spoon and grind it with your garlic cloves in a mortar and pestle. Add the ginger and garlic paste to your marinade.

Combine all the ingredients thoroughly. If you think your marinade is a little thick, add a bit more lemon juice or water.

Add the chicken to the marinade and make sure it is completely coated on all sides. I keep the chicken in the same container I mixed the marinade in. Marinade the chicken for at least 30-45 minutes, but if you have time marinate it overnight.

Light your grill, and bring it to temperature.

I like to cook chicken between 400-450o degrees. The high heat in our Kamado-style grill really mimics the traditional Tandoor oven really well. Turn regularly to get dark grill marks on all sides of your chicken. Cook your chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165o.

Once the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165o, remove it from the grill and let rest for 5-7 minutes before cutting or serving.

Enjoy it while it’s hot, or cold from a picnic basket.