The Hirshon ULTIMATE Indian Tandoori Chicken and Masala – तंदूरी चिकन

My glorious and unmatched Citizens of TFD Nation – once again, your petitions have reached the fiery volcanic summit of Mt. Erebus in the howling Antarctic Winter and I hear your multitudinous cries of yearning! Today’s benison will echo the fires of Erebus to give you a classic well-spiced (but not spicy) flame-grilled dish from India – My authentic and ULTIMATE version of tandoori chicken!

As you are undoubtedly aware, tandoori chicken is a dish made from chicken marinated in yogurt and spices and roasted in a tandoor (a cylindrical clay oven) in a recipe that has taken over (and is taken out from) virtually every Indian restaurant. The dish is famous, with the modern form of the dish popularized by the Moti Mahal restaurant in New Delhi, India in the late 1940s.

Chicken roasted in tandoor-like ovens is documented in the Harappan civilization of the Bronze Age of Indian subcontinent, as early as 3000 BC. Much later, the Sushruta Samhita records meat being cooked in an oven (kandu) after being seasoned with black mustard (rai) powder and fragrant spices.

Around the 15th century, these ovens became very popular when Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, preached for public ovens to help fight against the brutal caste system separating the people of India. These communal ovens, also known as sanjha chulha, helped to create neighborhood cultures and communities based around cooking.

Tandoori chicken as a dish is believed to have originated in the Punjab before independence and the British partition of India. The “Punjabi Tandoor” ovens measure one to two feet in diameter and are made of hardened clay. The tandoor would then be filled with firewood and charcoal – after the fire is lit, it can reach upwards of 900 degrees Fahrenheit!

In the late 1940s, tandoori chicken was popularized at Moti Mahal in the locality of Daryaganj in New Delhi by Kundan Lal Jaggi, Kundan Lal Gujral and Thakur Das Magu, who were Punjabi Hindu refugees from Peshawar who fled due to the forced British partitioning of Indian territory into Pakistan – they became the founders of the Moti Mahal restaurant.

Previously, they used to work at a small eatery (also called Moti Mahal), owned by a man named Mokha Singh Lamba in Peshawar, British India, from the 1920s to 1947. The Delhi version of Tandoori chicken was popularized in post-independence India by Moti Mahal, Daryaganj in Delhi when it was served to the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

As a result, tandoori chicken became a standard offering at official banquets served to foreign dignitaries and local politicians alike. In the United States, tandoori chicken began appearing on menus by the 1960s due to President Kennedy’s Indian visit. Jacqueline Kennedy was reported to have enjoyed “chicken tandoori” on a flight from Rome to Bombay in 1962.

A recipe for tandoori chicken was printed in the Los Angeles Times in 1963, for “the hostess in search of a fresh idea for a party dinner”; a similar recipe was featured in the same newspaper in 1964.

In the classic recipe, raw chicken parts are skinned then marinated in a mixture of dahi (yogurt) and tandoori masala, a specific spice blend for this exact recipe. They are then further seasoned and colored with cayenne pepper, red chili powder, or Kashmiri red chili powder as well as turmeric or food coloring.

The marinated chicken is cooked at high temperatures in a tandoor oven, which is heated with charcoal or wood, which adds to the smoky flavor. The dish can also be cooked in a standard oven, using a spit or rotisserie, or over hot charcoal (TFD’s preferred home method, unless you are blessed enough to own a proper tandoor!).

If you plan to make this recipe often, consider investing in a REAL ceramic tandoor – you can buy one from here, and they are obviously not cheap. Still, for the TRUE Indian culinary enthusiast, no sacrifice is too great for authenticity and flavor alike!

There are also tandoori recipes for whole chicken, some of which are cooked in a tandoor and others over charcoal. These include Chirga (Roasted whole chicken); Tandoori Murgh (Roast whole chicken with almonds); Murgh Kabab Seekhi (Whole stuffed chicken on the spit); Kookarh Tandoori (Steamed chicken on spit); Tandoori Murgh Massaledarh (Whole spiced chicken on spit); and Murghi Bhogar (Chicken in the Bhogar style).

Tandoori chicken can be eaten as a starter or appetizer, or as a main course, often served with naan flatbread. It is also used as the base of numerous cream-based curries, such as the acclaimed Indian Diaspora dish known simply and gloriously as butter chicken.

My Citizens – the version of tandoori chicken I present for your especial review and gustatory appreciation is extremely complex, far more so than the so-called “Tandoori” at most Indian restaurants! I have restored its honor and pedigree as a banquet dish worthy of Presidents and Premiers alike – yes, it’s got a lot of ingredients. YES, it’s worth it – just once to try the real deal from a flavor perspective!

Perhaps to your surprise, one of the most important components of the flavor profile defining TRUE tandoori chicken is the lavish use of mustard oil – which is exactly what it sounds like, made from the seeds of the mustard plant to give a spicy and needed kick in the ass for this recipe.

Unfortunately –  there is a catch. Virtually every mustard oil being sold today includes a chemical that can render it toxic if ingested in large doses, which is why most mustard oils are labelled for external use (massage) only! Fortunately, there is one brand from Australia that HAS removed that nasty little chemical and is 100% safe – and this is it!

The next component is the unique tandoori masala (a masala is simply a spice mix) that is quite specifically made for this recipe – as the Sorcerer SUPREME of Spicing Sagacity, I have further refined the classic tandoori chicken masala with My otherworldly intuitions, making fastidious notations on the changes I’ve made in case you want the original recipe.

Like all great Indian recipes, this uses MULTIPLE spice blends, to achieve a supreme harmony of flavor notes to provide the culinary equivalency of Ali Akbar Khan‘s unmatched sitar stylings and cascading layers of sound. So, not only is there a chicken tandoori masala blend but ALSO a kabab-specific masala to achieve this intended effect!

So, YES – there’s a lot of different spices going on in this dish, which is the best way to light up tandoori chicken in the incandescent glory in which it was meant to be savored! Fear not, I have sources for all the more outré spices in case you don’t live near a good Indian grocery store as I do! I’ve added several smoky spices to emulate the tandoor effect as well.

To properly thicken the yogurt that is needed for the marinade, whole milk yogurt must be hung in cheesecloth overnight – please use the best natural (no gums!) whole milk yogurt you can find! This is a very good cheesecloth brand to use for the hanging and is also VERY useful for straining soups and so much more throughout your kitchen – keep it around!

You’re going to need: ginger-garlic paste, roasted gram flour, culinary-grade red food coloring (for the classic neon-red look, it can be omitted), Kashmiri chilis, wild cumin seed, black cardamom, ajwain seeds, kalonji seeds, smoked paprika, bay leaf powder, black salt, Ceylon Cinnamon and Indian yellow chili powder. The others are all at the grocery store.

I never said this was going to be inexpensive or easy – I simply said the truth: that it represents the ULTIMATE authentic version of the recipe and will send your gustatory soul into paroxysms of delight as it ascends to the highest Empyrean of the culinary heavens!

Aren’t both you and your guests worthy of that extra work and expense, My glorious members of TFD Nation?! OF COURSE YOU ARE!!!

Battle on – the Generalissimo

The Hirshon ULTIMATE Indian Tandoori Chicken and Masala – तंदूरी चिकन

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• Author: The Generalissimo

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Ingredients

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• For the Chicken marinade:
• 9 oz. hung whole milk yogurt (put the yogurt into cheesecloth and hang overnight suspended over a bowl to catch the liquid, discard liquid)
• 2 Tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 2 Tbsp. Sattu or roasted Gram flour
• 1 tsp. Tandoori Masala (recipe below)
• 1 Tbsp. Lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp. Australian Gold culinary-grade Mustard oil (DO NOT SUBSTITUTE)
• a few drops of red food coloring (optional but gives the classic color)
• Kosher salt to taste
• 2 1/4 lb. Chicken – use skinless legs, thighs etc. – each piece slashed deeply to the bone in several places
• ***
• For the Tandoori Masala:
• 1/2 cup mild long red Kashmiri chilies
• 1/4 cup whole coriander seeds (preferably football-shaped seeds from India)
• 1/2 Tbsp. whole wild cumin seeds (TFD change, original was regular cumin)
• 1/2 Tbsp. whole cumin seeds
• 1/2 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns (TFD prefers Tellicherry)
• 1/2 Tbsp. whole cloves
• 1/2 Tbsp. green cardamom seeds, remove papery skins
• 1 black cardamom seed, remove papery skins (TFD optional but recommended change)
• 1 tsp. whole fenugreek seeds
• Two 2” sticks Ceylon cinnamon bark (do NOT use regular cinnamon!) (TFD change, original was three)
• 1/2 tsp. ajwain seeds (TFD optional addition, omit for original)
• 1/2 tsp. Kalonji seeds (TFD optional addition, omit for original)
• 1 tsp. dried ground ginger
• 1 tsp. dried garlic granules
• 1/2 tsp. freshly-grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. smoked paprika (TFD change, original was sweet paprika)
• 1 tsp. bay leaf powder (optional TFD change, omit for original)
• 2 points star anise (optional TFD change, omit for original)
• ***
• For the Kabab Masala:
• 1 tsp. roasted cumin powder
• 8 lightly-toasted Kashmiri chilies
• 1 tsp. roasted coriander seeds (preferably the football-shaped Indian variety)
• 1 Tbsp. Gram flour
• 2 tsp. Tandoori Masala powder
• 1 tsp. chipotle powder (TFD optional change, replace with cayenne for original)
• 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground roasted white peppercorn powder (TFD optional change, replace with black peppercorn powder for original)
• ***
• Garnish:
• melted butter or ghee mixed with a pinch of black salt, a pinch of yellow chili powder, and a pinch of freshly-ground roasted fenugreek seeds
• parsley or cilantro sprigs
• fresh lime wedges
• rings of purple onion

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Instructions

1. For the chicken marination:
2. Start of by mixing every ingredient (except the mustard oil) for the marinade and the masala mix in a large bowl. Mix together completely.
3. Heat the mustard oil until smoky and pour this smoky hot oil into the marinade. Mix together, let cool slightly and rub this all over the chicken pieces. Make sure that you have made deep gashes on the chicken pieces for the marination to seep deep into the meat. Allow it to marinate overnight in the fridge.
4. For the Tandoori masala:
5. Toss together the whole seed ingredients, one by one, in a hot, heavy pan, for between 30 seconds – 1 minute, until each of the spices smell strongly. Remove to a bowl and let cool completely.
6. Transfer to a powerful blender, and add the remaining ground spices. Blend to a smooth powder. Transfer to a clean, fairly airtight spice jar, and store in a cool dark place. This recipe makes approximately 1 cup of tandoori masala.
7. For the Kabab masala:
8. Toast cumin, coriander seeds, and whole red chilies in a pan until the spices become fragrant. Make sure to use low heat for this process. Then, roast the besan on low heat until slightly browned and aromatic.
9. Add all whole spices to the spice grinder jar. Grind the spices to create a fine powder. Mix with powdered spices and store tightly-sealed.
10. To make the chicken:
11. On the next day, fire up your charcoal grill to medium-high heat and dust the chicken with the kabab masala mix.
12. Place the chicken on the grill and cook for about 10 minutes per side. The chicken should be cooked through and browned and charred in places on the outside. If you are using an instant-read thermometer, the temperature should be 160ºF.
13. Remove the chicken from the grill and let stand for about 5 minutes before serving. Post cooking, brush your finished meat with the melted butter and spices.
14. Garnish with parsley or cilantro sprigs, lime wedges and purple onion rings on the side and serve immediately. Enjoy with pulao or naan and serve with extra tandoori masala for each guest to add as needed.