| Traditionally, tandoori dishes are cooked in a tandoor, | | | | people as you want. |
| an oval shaped clay oven with a small fire in the | | | | Ingredients |
| bottom. The heat rises gradually but ultimately reaches | | | | - 2 Chicken breasts |
| a much higher temperature than a barbeque. | | | | - 1 small tub Greek yogurt |
| A tandoor is normally used to cook naan bread, meats | | | | - 1 tsp ground cumin |
| and kebabs (meat or paneer). The bread is stuck to | | | | - 1 tsp ground coriander |
| the sides, the kebabs stood vertically and whole | | | | - ½ tsp ground turmeric |
| chickens rested on a grid over the fire. | | | | - ½ tsp ginger powder |
| For domestic cooking, a tandoor is not really | | | | - ½ tsp chilli powder (or to taste) |
| convenient but the meat dishes can be reproduced on | | | | - 1 small clove garlic, crushed |
| a barbeque or in the oven. The bright red appearance | | | | - salt to taste |
| of tandoori meats which you may see in Indian | | | | - 1 tbsp lemon juice |
| restaurants is produced by a food dye which really | | | | Cut the chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes and set |
| isn't necessary to enhance the look of your tandoori | | | | aside. Mix the spice powders and garlic into the yogurt. |
| dishes. | | | | You can use low fat yogurt if you prefer. You can |
| I have a great fondness for tandoori style food. It has | | | | also use fresh ginger or ginger paste from a jar rather |
| flavour, without being "hot" or high in calories or too | | | | than ginger powder but go easy on the quantity as it |
| filling. In fact it's an ideal dish summer or winter, if you | | | | can be quite over-powering. |
| fancy something a little different. As a bonus, it doesn't | | | | At this point you can also mix in the salt and lemon |
| take hours to prepare. Of course you can take all the | | | | juice but if you do so, don't leave the chicken to |
| effort out of it and use a pre-prepared mix, but I think | | | | marinade for more than about 20 minutes or it will |
| they have less flavour and you can't use them for | | | | become very dry when cooked. If you want to |
| anything else, whereas if you use the individual spices, | | | | marinade it for a longer time, add the salt and lemon |
| you can make other dishes as well. | | | | juice just before you cook the dish or sprinkle on to |
| You can easily make tandoori chicken (whole), tandoori | | | | serve. |
| lamb chops (pork would be more unusual, but there's | | | | Thread the chicken onto skewers and either barbeque |
| no reason why you shouldn't use it, if you prefer) and | | | | or cook under a grill using medium heat until the chicken |
| lamb tikka (kebabs) but my personal favourite is | | | | is slightly browned and cooked through. |
| chicken tikka because it's so quick so here's my own | | | | For a light meal, serve with salad, pitta or naan bread |
| recipe. | | | | and lemon wedges or for something more substantial |
| This recipe serves two people - multiply it for as many | | | | with rice and dahl. |