Tandoori chicken

My favourite chicken dish has got to be Tandoori chicken. It’s a great starter, a side dish and a meal in itself, if like me you like to order the whole bird and work at it till the bones are polished clean. I have a problem with not being served the neck piece when ordering the whole bird. A big problem. With some gnawing there is some great meat to be had from the neck. My piece of choice is the leg though. I find breast meat bland.

Tandoori chicken was reserved for when I went out, until I got this recipe from my granduncle – a super cook. He’s one of those people who just have a knack for food. He normally cooks his chicken in a baking tray, in the oven, to save time and effort. But that would not do. Tandoori chicken has to be char-grilled. So I put together a make shift barbecue. The one I used to use got left outside while I was away for a year and rusted and rotted away over the monsoon. Good excuse to get a new one made.

To make the marinade you need:

• hung curd 
• onion paste
• garlic paste
• ginger paste
• garam masala, be careful with this one.
• finely chopped green chili
• some red chili powder
• and some honey. The garam masala and the chili will give you a back of the throat, harsh, spiciness. The honey rounds that off for you.
• Salt 

The trick to getting this marinade right is to taste, taste and taste. Taste some before you put the honey in and you'll see what I am talking about. 

I also put in a little bit of red food colouring. Tandoori chicken has to be red (ish). A good quality Kashmiri chili powder will give you the colour you need. But I had none and resorted to cheating. 

Mix all the above ingredients together and marinade the chicken for a few hours. Cut slits on the chicken to aide the process.

Make the marinade and cut slits on the chicken legs

Marinade the chicken

The effort spent getting a coal fire going really pays off

Don't let the black bits put you off. They are welcome.

Serve with onion, tomato and coriander salad.