Tandoori Chicken

Bet we have your attention now! Tandoori chicken is rightfully one of the most popular Indian dishes around the world. The succulent chicken with the lip-smacking flavour and the signature aroma and oh no, I want some right now!

I have fond childhood memories of Sunday mornings - my parents would bring home a kilo of chicken, out of which half would be marinated and in the afternoon we'd have tandoori chicken! My sister and I fought over the bigger looking leg pieces, and sometimes we'd eat so much that we'd have no appetite left for the yummy chicken curry.

This is the recipe my dad gave me over an international call when I was studying abroad. It was so good that my neighbours came knocking, demanding to know what exactly smelled so delicious!

Our adventure requires:

1/2 kg chicken
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 cup plain yoghurt
5 tbsp tandoori chicken masala (Everest is recommended)
4 tsp red chilli powder (Kashmiri red chillies will give that signature red colour)
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp salt (or according to taste)

Method:

Cut slits in the chicken pieces and rub in the ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients in the order mentioned. Add this marinade to the the chicken pieces and mix well.

Marinate this for at least 2 hours (my dad recommends six hours at least, but I know how impatient we can be) and the more you marinate, the better. If marinated overnight, keep in the fridge.

Roast in an oven at 200ºC for about 20 to 30 minutes, turning twice and applying oil and the excess marinade as required.

Serve hot, with lemon and sliced onions. :)

Tips:

- Sprinkle some chaat masala before eating, tastes nice and tangy.

- You can substitute the chicken with paneer to make paneer tikka.

- A wonderful side dish is this salad.