Ingredients:
- 4 Boneless Chicken Breasts cut in half lengthwise (Cut them thin-but not TOO thin)
- 1 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
- ½ Cup Mayonnaise
- 1 ½ Tblsp Lemon Juice
- ¼ Cup Sriracha sauce
- 2 Tblsp Turmeric
- 1 Tblsp Ground Cumin
- 1 Tblsp Ground Coriander
- 1 Tblsp Ground Cardamom
- 1 Tspn Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tspn Ground Allspice
- 1 Tspn Ground Cinnamon
- ¾ Tblsp Kosher Salt
- 1 Tspn Ground Cloves
Directions:
In a bowl, combine all ingredients (except the chicken) from the yogurt to the cloves thoroughly and set aside.
Cut boneless chicken breasts in half, lengthwise. They should be thin, but not too thin or they’ll burn.
With a fork, violently stab chicken over entire surface until it is good and pierced full of holes. You don’t want to tear it apart, just poke it on each side making plenty of holes.
Place the poked chicken breasts halves into a gallon-sized zip-lock bag and pour in contents of reserved bowl. Close zip-lock bag squeezing as much air out as you can and then gently massage bag until all the chicken is good and coated.
Place bag on a cookie-cooling rack on a cookie sheet and refrigerate 24-48 hours, repeating the massage five or six times. The longer it marinates the better, but don’t be one of those gross people that marinates things for waaaaay too long. That actually ruins the meat. The acids in the marinades actually cook the meat over too much time, so when you finally bake them they come out tough, like shoe leather.
When ready to bake…
Move oven rack to the top section of oven and preheat 500° or as hot as it’ll go.
After the 24-48 hour marinating process is complete, take the chicken out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for 1-2 hours (you should do this with any/all meat you cook). But…no longer than 2 because after 2 hours bacteria can grow. You want the chicken at room temp so the cooking process works properly. (Too cold-right out of the oven-it’ll be uncooked on the inside)
After the chicken has come to room temperature, line the cookie sheet with tin foil for easy clean up and place a cookie cooling rack back on top. Take chicken from the bag with tongs and gently shake excess marinate into bag and place chicken on rack. It can be coated a little, but too much will just burn.
Bake on cookie rack over cookie sheet for 25-30 minutes depending on thickness of chicken. If you’d like, test the chicken with a thermometer. The inside should be 165°. It be out charred around the edges-this is what you want.
I hope you enjoy my version of Tandoori Chicken. This is the closest I’ve come to the authentic Tandoori-oven cooked chicken. Leave me a comment on what you think. Did I nail it? I’m hoping so. This dish is one of my favorites.
Dean Kutzler 