Tandoori Chicken Recipe — Smoky Oven Tandoori at Home

The Marinade Clock: 2 Hours Minimum, Overnight Best

How to make tandoori chicken starts with the slits. Cut deep slits into the chicken first, then whisk the yogurt, pastes, lemon juice, spices, salt and oil into a thick red marinade. Rub it into every slit with your hands, then lid the bowl and leave it chilling in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Two hours is the rushed end of the range, not the ideal. If you only have 2 hours, make the slits deep and the marinade thick. The flavour will still reach the bone. If you have longer, use it. The yogurt works on the meat while it waits.

The same marinade works on boneless pieces. That is why this method sits close to our chicken tikka recipe. The difference is the cut, not the spice mix. Tikka uses small boneless cubes on skewers. Tandoori chicken keeps bone-in pieces whole, so it needs the longer roast and the wire rack.

This recipe uses one marinade, not two. They use a single bowl of yogurt, pastes, lemon juice and spices.

Why This Recipe Works

• Deep slits carry the spiced yogurt past the surface, so bone-in pieces season through instead of tasting plain near the bone.
• Thick Greek yogurt clings in the oven heat, while thin yogurt slides off and leaves the chicken pale and wet.
• A wire rack and a 220°C (425°F) oven roast the chicken in circulating hot air, and a short broil at the end adds the char a tandoor would give.

Ingredients

• 900 g (2 lb) bone-in skinless chicken drumsticks and thighs
• 120 g (½ cup) Greek yogurt, full-fat
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1½ teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek), crushed
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• 1½ tablespoons neutral oil, such as avocado oil or sunflower oil
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced, to serve

Instructions

1. Cut slits into the chicken —Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Cut 3 to 4 deep slits into each large piece, or 2 to 3 into each drumstick, cutting down to the bone. The slits let the marinade reach the meat instead of sitting on the surface.
2. Mix the marinade —In a large bowl, whisk the yogurt, salt and oil until smooth, then add the lemon juice and the ground spices — turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala and Kashmiri chilli powder — with the garlic paste, ginger paste and kasuri methi. Whisk for about 1 minute, until thick and smooth. Taste and add a little more salt if needed. A thick marinade clings to the chicken; a runny one slides off in the oven.
3. Marinate the chicken —Add the chicken to the bowl and rub the marinade into every slit with your hands. Cover the bowl and chill it for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours for the deepest flavour. Take the chicken out 20 to 30 minutes before cooking so it cooks evenly.
4. Heat the oven and rack —Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F) for at least 15 minutes. Line a baking tray with foil and set a wire rack on top, then lightly oil the rack. The rack lifts the chicken out of its juices so hot air reaches all sides.
5. Bake the chicken —Arrange the chicken on the rack in a single layer, leaving space between pieces, and shake off only the loose excess marinade. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn each piece and brush with the reserved marinade. Bake for 10 more minutes, until the edges darken and the juices run clear.
6. Char under the broiler and rest —Move the tray to the top rack and broil on high for 5 minutes, watching closely, until charred spots appear. Check the thickest part with a thermometer: it should read 165°F (74°C). Rest the chicken for 5 minutes, then brush lightly with melted butter if the surface looks dry and serve with lemon and onion.

Tandoori Chicken Ingredients

The marinade needs thick Greek yogurt, not regular yogurt. Kashmiri chilli powder gives the deep red colour without fierce heat, so use it rather than hot chilli powder. Find it in the pantry if your supermarket does not stock it.

The spice mix is garam masala, coriander, cumin and turmeric, with kasuri methi (crushed dried fenugreek) between your palms. Garam masala runs 1 to 3 teaspoons across them, so this recipe uses 2. Kashmiri chilli runs from 1 teaspoon to 1½ tablespoons, so this recipe uses 1 tablespoon. Ginger and garlic go in as pastes, never as powder, because pastes spread evenly through the yogurt. That is the full set of tandoori chicken ingredients: yogurt, pastes, lemon, spices, salt and oil.

What Makes This Version Authentic

This authentic tandoori chicken recipe starts with bone-in chicken marinated in spiced yogurt and roasted in a clay tandoor. The tradition traces to Moti Mahal in Delhi, where the dish was created by Kundan Lal Gujral. The tandoor's fierce heat chars the surface while the inside stays juicy. The red colour comes from Kashmiri chilli, never from food colouring. At home, a hot oven and a broiler do the same job. The flavour comes from the marinade, not the oven itself.

Add kasuri methi and a pinch of chaat masala (a tangy spice blend) at the end for a restaurant-style finish. If you want the same charred chicken folded into a creamy sauce instead, butter chicken is the next recipe to try.

The yogurt in the marinade is hung curd by another name. That thickness is the point. Thin yogurt slides off the chicken in the oven and leaves it pale and wet. Thick yogurt clings and carries the spices. If your yogurt looks runny, strain it through a cloth before it goes in.

Tandoori Chicken in the Oven

Cooking tandoori chicken in oven starts at 220°C (425°F), on a wire rack over a foil-lined tray. Hot air reaches every side, and the juices drip away instead of pooling. Bake for 15 minutes, turn and brush with the reserved marinade, then bake for 10 more minutes.

The failure to watch for is pale, steamed chicken. It has one cause: pieces crowded on a flat tray, sitting in their own juices. Spread them out on the rack, keep the marinade thick, and finish with 5 minutes under a hot broiler. Watch closely until charred spots appear. Take the chicken off when the thickest part reads 165°F (74°C). Bone-in legs may read up to 175°F and stay juicy, so do not wait for a higher number.

On a grill, the same marinade cooks in about 25 to 30 minutes. Use medium-high heat and turn once. Pull the chicken at 165°F (74°C). The grill gives the closest smoke to a tandoor, but the heat is harder to control than the oven.

Check that the thickest part reads 165°F (74°C) before serving. The air fryer suits small batches. The oven suits a full tray, and its timing is the easiest to repeat.

Among tandoori chicken recipes, this oven-first version is the one to learn first. It sits in our chicken dinners collection, built for cooks without a tandoor, because its timing is the easiest to repeat.

The Weeknight Shortcut

As a tandoori chicken recipe easy enough for a weeknight, this one works because the work is front-loaded. It takes 20 minutes of mixing and slitting, then the fridge and the oven do the rest. There is no sauce to watch, no stirring, and no second pan. The only timed job is turning the chicken once and watching the broiler. Make the marinade the night before and the evening version takes 30 minutes of cooking.

Serve it straight from the tray with lemon wedges and sliced onion. Or build a plate with basmati rice recipe and garlic naan recipe for a full meal. Leftovers slice well cold into wraps and salads the next day. That is the easiest way to stretch one tray into two meals.

For the full plate, add masala onions and mint chutney: thinly sliced onion with lemon and salt, and a mint chutney for cooling. Our raita is the cooling side if chutney is not on hand.

Tandoori Chicken Without a Tandoor

A tandoor is a clay oven heated by charcoal or wood fire, and almost no home kitchen has one. The oven method above is the most repeatable of the four, because the temperature and the timing stay the same every time. A grill gives more smoke, but the heat is harder to control, and the chicken dries out faster.

Cooking tandoori chicken without tandoor still allows smoke with an optional dhungar step. Heat a small piece of charcoal until red hot. Set it in a steel cup on the tray, drizzle half a teaspoon of ghee over it and cover the tray for 5 to 7 minutes. This optional method needs open windows. The chicken is already good without it, but this is the closest a home kitchen gets to tandoor smoke. Finish with raita, which cools the plate after the charred, spiced chicken.

Tips

• Use Kashmiri chilli powder for the red colour without fierce heat.
• If the marinade looks runny, stir in an extra teaspoon of coriander powder and a little more garam masala. The ground spices soak up the whey and thicken the marinade so it clings to the chicken.
• Do not crowd the tray: pieces that touch steam instead of roasting, and the marinade stays pale and wet. Cook in two batches if your rack is small, and keep the second batch covered in the fridge while the first roasts.

Storage

Fridge: Three days in the fridge, sealed; cool within 2 hours of cooking.

Freezer: Up to 3 months frozen in a sealed container; thaw in the fridge overnight.

Reheat: Reheat gently in the oven until hot throughout and the thickest part reads 165°F (74°C).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is tandoori chicken?

Tandoori chicken is bone-in chicken marinated in spiced yogurt and roasted in a clay tandoor, a tradition traced to Moti Mahal in Delhi. The tandoor's fierce heat chars the surface while the inside stays juicy. At home, a hot oven and a broiler do the same job.

Is tandoori chicken spicy?

It is warmly spiced rather than fiercely hot. Kashmiri chilli powder gives the deep red colour without fierce heat, so this recipe uses it rather than hot chilli powder. The marinade also carries garam masala, coriander, cumin and turmeric, with kasuri methi for its fenugreek scent.

What to serve with tandoori chicken?

Serve it straight from the tray with lemon wedges and thinly sliced red onion, or build a plate with basmati rice and garlic naan for a full meal. Add masala onions and mint chutney, or raita if chutney is not on hand. Leftovers slice well cold into wraps and salads the next day.

How to make tandoori chicken?

Cut deep slits into 900 g of bone-in drumsticks and thighs, then rub in a thick yogurt marinade with Kashmiri chilli, garam masala and kasuri methi. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours. Roast on a wire rack at 220°C (425°F) for 25 minutes, broil for 5 minutes, and pull the chicken at 165°F.

Why is tandoori chicken red?

The red colour comes from Kashmiri chilli powder in the yogurt marinade, never from food colouring. Thick Greek yogurt clings to the chicken and carries the spices, so the colour reaches the meat through the deep slits. A short finish under the broiler then chars the edges.