Alice's Tandoori Chicken

Real tandoori chicken cooks in a clay tandoor oven at temperatures hot enough to scorch the surface in minutes while the yogurt marinade locks in moisture inside. Home ovens can’t hit those temperatures, but this recipe gets close: a high 400°F (200°C) bake followed by a few minutes under the broiler delivers the charred, blistered exterior and tender, tangy interior that defines the dish.

Skinning the chicken before marinating is the key step most home cooks skip. The yogurt can’t penetrate skin, so the marinade only flavors the surface. Slashing the meat with a few cuts gives the spices direct access to the bones and creates more surface area for char.

The red food coloring is traditional for restaurant tandoori, where it gives that unmistakable sunset-red surface. It does nothing for flavor, so feel free to skip it if you prefer the natural rust color of the spices.

Pro Tips

• Marinate overnight if at all possible. Four hours works, but 12 to 24 hours gives the yogurt and acids time to fully tenderize the meat and pull the spices deep into every fiber.
• Use full-fat plain Greek yogurt or strained yogurt. Thin yogurt slides off the chicken and the marinade puddles in the bottom of the pan instead of clinging.
• Bring the chicken to room temperature for 20 minutes before baking. Cold-from-fridge chicken takes longer to cook and the surface dries out before the inside reaches temperature.
• Set a wire rack inside your baking sheet. The chicken cooks more evenly and the bottom doesn’t steam in its own juices.
• Sprinkle the garam masala on after broiling, not in the marinade. Garam masala is a finishing spice and its delicate aromatics burn off in long cooking.

Variations

• Use bone-in chicken breasts in place of legs and thighs (reduce cooking time to about 25 minutes since white meat dries out faster).
• Stir 1 tablespoon of tandoori masala paste into the marinade for deeper, more authentic flavor.
• Serve with basmati rice, warm naan, sliced cucumber and a yogurt-mint raita for the full Indian dinner.