Tandoori Chicken
This recipe is from my sister, Paula, who lived in northern England with her English husband. Indian food and 'takeaways' are very popular there. I serve this dish with rice and a spinach salad with tomato wedges, hard boiled eggs, cucumber slices, feta cheese and black olives. Doubling the marinade will provide plenty of sauce to go over the rice
This recipe is from my sister, Paula, who lived in northern England with her English husband. Indian food and 'takeaways' are very popular there. I serve this dish with rice and a spinach salad with tomato wedges, hard boiled eggs, cucumber slices, feta cheese and black olives. Doubling the marinade will provide plenty of sauce to go over the rice
- Carbohydrate 2.31162421914623 g
- Cholesterol 0.229687500098499 mg
- Fat 5.33436427304989 g
- Fiber 0.445316674455357 g
- Protein 0.347486562668153 g
- Saturated Fat 0.463200052261125 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (26g)
- Sodium 4.3765233598237 mg
- Sugar 1.86630754469088 g
- Trans Fat 0.124546927111311 g
- Calories 56 calories
Step-by-step
- Make cuts in the chicken flesh, almost to the bone. Pour 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice over the chicken and rub in the salt.
- Combine the tandoori spice, yogurt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, oil and the vinegar. Coat the chicken with the mixture, rubbing well into the cuts. Place the chicken in a 13x9 inch pan, cover with foil and refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Bake covered chicken at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour. Remove foil the last 15 minutes of baking.
Deeply charred edges give way to succulent, spiced meat infused with the tang of yogurt and citrus. Acidic marinades containing lemon juice and vinegar break down surface proteins on poultry, but leaving chicken in this mixture longer than twenty-four hours can render the outer layers chalky. Scoring the flesh down to the bone allows the marinade to penetrate dense muscle fibers rather than merely coating the exterior. Baking this poultry covered for forty-five minutes traps moisture, while removing the foil for the final fifteen minutes promotes surface dehydration and browning.
Make-Ahead and Freezing Dynamics
Raw poultry submerged in this yogurt-and-spice paste can remain refrigerated for up to twenty-four hours before cooking. Freezing the pieces directly in the marinade works well if sealed in heavy-duty polyethylene bags with excess air expelled. Thaw frozen portions completely in the refrigerator over twenty-four hours prior to baking; placing semi-frozen pieces straight into a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven results in uneven internal temperatures. Leftover cooked portions retain acceptable quality when stored in an airtight container for up to three days. Reheat refrigerated leftovers gently at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen minutes, covering the pan with foil to prevent the lean meat from drying out completely.
- Juices running entirely clear when thickest sections are pierced indicate proper doneness without a thermometer.
- Stiffening resistance in the meat fibers provides a tactile cue that the protein has fully coagulated.
- Plain whole milk yogurt functions best because low-fat alternatives curdle prematurely under high heat.
