Food is our common ground, a universal experience 
A roasted fiery red tinged chicken made in tandoor and then seasoned with tangy yogurt and curry based sauce … mmmm.. Sounds so yummy. Doesn’t it? This roasted delicacy was actually initiated in North-western India which then became coveted Punjabi dish during the time of Mughal Empire. The dish which is dated back to long time,
the time of the Mughals when it was served as one of the special delicacies and even now it is persistently featured on the top in the favorite list of tandoori food aficionados (like me).
A small fire flared underneath having coals in it and barrel-shaped clay oven (tandoor) placed over it is a methodology of preparing tandoori food. But I find this method to lack user-friendliness as cooking in tandoor involves an intricate process. Whenever I feel like having Tandoori chicken I walk to restaurants. However, as an option to tandoor when I tried Barbecues; cooking on a grill, I found them pretty good. Of course I missed the distinctive smoky flavor bestowed by tandoor which I think only tandoor can offer as it is the only signature of tandoor food. Later, I tried cooking chicken on charcoal grill which I found to be the best substitute for Tandoor whose resulting flavor was a fair approximation to tandoor.
However, tandoor chicken tastes the best and is a delectable dish. The specific spices added to it may vary region to region but I am sure it hardly will impinge on the taste. The most can happen is, it will taste more scrumptious with diverse spices added to it and nothing else more would happen. The savory flavor of Tandoori chicken for me can hardly be beaten by other tandoori dishes like chicken tikka, tandoori fish or any other tandoori items. Accompanied by onion rings, wedges of lemon and rice it is just yummmmm!
Here is the recipe of Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients:
(3-pound) chicken, cut into serving
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
Spices
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or malt vinegar
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon peeled and grated or crushed ginger root
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
- Vegetable oil, for brushing
- Fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish
- Slices of cucumber, red (Spanish) onion, tomato and lemon, for garnish
Method of Preparation: The flesh of the chicken has to be pricked all over with a fork. Marinate has to be allowed to be penetrated and chicken pieces slashed with a sharp knife. The chicken has to be placed on a dish. Some of the items like yoghurt, ginger, cumin, garlic, ground coriander, cardamom, cloves, black pepper and salt have to be mixed. When the mixture gels properly, it has to be rubbed inside the flesh. Then this preparation has to be preserved in a refrigerator and then taken out just 30 minutes before cooking. Either options of grilling or roasting the chicken is available. A charcoal grill can be used for the process. The grill can be placed at a distance of 5 inches from the fire. The coals have to be burnt until there is enough white ash on them.
The chicken has to be removed from the marinade and pressed lightly to extract the excess amount. Then, it has to be brushed with oil. The chicken pieces have to be placed on a well oiled grill rack. The vents should be left open and turned around 3 to 4 times. The preparation is complete when the juices run out clearly from its body.
