Kosher Tandoori done the Kosher way.
Kosher Tandoori Chicken
According to Google, the most popular food in the United Kingdom is Indian food and one of the top dishes is tandoori chicken. Tandoori chicken is a dish of chicken marinated in yoghurt and general spices giving the meat flavour & colour. Therefore, the genuine Indian version is not Kosher or suitable for anyone with a dairy intolerance. It is named tandoori for the cylindrical clay oven in which it's cooked which is called a tandoor.
Over the years I've tried to replicate the delicate flavours of the Tandoori marinade, in a way that is suitable for a kosher diet, also one that doesn't have artificial colourings, and can be baked in the oven, I'm so happy to share this recipe with you.
The key to good tandoori chicken is to use cuts of chicken on the bone like thighs and legs as these cuts have enough fat to stay moist under the intense heat. I would only recommend using the breast and wing if you are going to cook them on an outside barbecue (grill) as they have in the states.
Making tandoori a process, although each stage doesn't take long you have to prepare the marinade and marinate the chicken the day before you're going to cook it.
Ingredients to serve 4.
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1teaspoon ground cumin
1teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon curry powder (I you can get a tandoori mix even better)
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
Juice of 1 lemon
6 cloves of minced garlic
1tablespoon of minced ginger
1 cup or 8 fluid ounces of plant based natural sugar free yoghurt Alpo do a very good one.
4 whole chicken bottom quarters (drumsticks and thigh) on the bone skinless.
For Serving
½ cup of chopped fresh coriander
1 lemon sliced.
Method
Step one. Make the marinade heat some of the oil in a small pan over medium heat then cook the coriander, cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, curry powder, and paprika about two to three minutes to infuse the flavours, let cool completely.
In glass bowl mix the plant yoghurt, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and ginger and whisk in all the cooked spices and mix them well.
Step two prepare the chicken take your chicken pieces and cut deep slashes into the chicken in three to four places coat the chicken totally in the marinade and place in the fridge to overnight, you can leave it up to 12 hours. You can either leave it in the glass bowl covered well with cling film, or in freezer bags, I prefer the latter as you can shake them from time to time to ensure every piece is well coated.
Step 3 cook Preheat your oven to 180 centigrade 360 Fahrenheit.
Take a baking tray line it was foil and put a rack on top of the tray, remove the chicken from the marinade shaking off any access marinade and place the chicken on the rack bake for 20 minutes then using tongs turn the chicken and cover with more marinade generously on both sides bake for another 10 minutes. Increase the temperature to 220 C 428 F cover the chicken totally with any remaining marinade bake for a further 20 minutes until you get some nice, charred spots this adds the extra flavour.
If you are using a BBQ or outside grill, follow the same steps but adjust your cooking time accordingly.
Serve on a platter with saffron rice chopped coriander and slices of lemon. traditionally Tandoori chicken is served with a mint and yogurt dressing you can make this by mixing ½ cup plant-based yogurt, 1 teaspoon honey, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ cup finely chopped mint together. Then you have the whole experience!