Tandoori Chicken -- without the Tandoor!

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Almost everyone has heard of Tandoori Chicken, much like Butter Chicken which is a staple of Indian cuisine Tandoori Chicken is very popular all over the world. Practically every Indian restaurant will offer it. A very simple basic meal would be Tandoori Chicken with Dhal and Rice.

The challenge with making Tandoori Chicken at home of course is that most of us don't have a Tandoor lying around at home. Here's what a real tandoor looks like, its a kind of like a pizza oven, the sides serve to make tandoori breads like Naan or Roti and the middle serves as a high heat grill which cooks the meat via radiant heat, instantly searing it and making the outside crisp and the insides moist. Traveling through northern states of India like Punjab and Haryana, you will see the roadside restaurants inevitably have one of these tucked away in the back or sometimes the more touristy ones up front so you can watch the food being made.

This is what a real-life Tandoor looks like:

Tandoori Chicken I make at home does not use a Tandoor, I used to use the grill but it was kind of messy and so one winter I tried it indoors in the oven using the roast setting and then broiling at the end and it came out really well, almost like the the real thing:

Ingredients

4 Chicken Legs with thighs and drumsticks

1 tsp Coriander

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Cayenne pepper

1 tsp Garam Masala

1 tsp Sweet Paprika

1 tsp salt

1 cup plain yogurt

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 garlic cloves minced

2 tbsp ginger minced

3 tbsp vegetable oil

A few drops Red Food Color

This dish requires the chicken to marinate for at least an hour so be mindful of that and allow enough time for that. I usually start this dish first while cooking dinner so I can leave the chicken to marinate while making the rest of the meal. You may also prepare it a day ahead or that morning and put the mix in the fridge and cook in the evening.

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (use the convection roast setting if available).

Prepare the chicken by removing the skin, if you purchased 4 full legs, slice the legs into two halves by using a sharp knife and cutting exactly at the joint, with luck and some practice you will slice right through the cartilage and separate the thigh and drumstick. If you are unsure of this you can also just buy 4 thigh pieces and 4 drumstick pieces. Removing the skin is easy, just use a paper towel and tug at the skin and it will come off easy. Pat the pieces dry and set aside.

In a saucepan heat the 3 tbsps of oil until just warm, and quickly saute JUST the dry spices. Make sure the heat is medium or the spices will burn and add a burnt taste. Scrape the spice mix into a bowl to stop it cooking and let it cool down.

In a large bowl add the lemon juice, yogurt, garlic, ginger and food color and mix in the spices, the mix should be a somewhat dull red color. Now drop the chicken pieces into the mix, coat the pieces thoroughly and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for an hour. If you will be preparing this well ahead of cooking, put it in a large ziploc bag, seal and put in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook.

Remove each marinated piece, shake it loose of any marinade and place it in a baking sheet/tray lined with foil. Spread the pieces apart so they dont touch each other. Place the tray in the oven and let it cook for about 30 minutes. Check to see how it is cooking, about 10 minutes before it is ready, you will see the chicken meat start to separate from the bone on the drumsticks and some of the tips may start getting a little charred. At about 40 minutes turn on the broiler for about 5 minutes, keeping an eye on the chicken to make sure it does not burn -- broilers can crisp the chicken too fast, essentially burning it, take the chicken out no later than 45 minutes (some ovens may be done in 35 to 40 minutes). If you are not sure, pick up a piece with a pair of tongs and slice into the meat portion, it should be well cooked but not dry i.e. a little moist but not shiny/translucent.

Its important not to keep opening the oven to check every few minutes as the temperature will drop and the chicken may not cook through. Don't overcook it either as it will become very dry and chewy and lose some of its flavor, so its important to take it out right on time.

Immediately transfer the pieces into a bowl so they stop cooking, sprinkle some coriander leaves on top and serve with warm Naan, Chapaties or Roti and some Dhal.

Mom's Recipe Book

I learned to cook from my Mom, well, technically she didn't really teach me but I used to hang around in our kitchen a lot as a little boy and watched her grind the Indian spices from the seeds, use a stone grinder to make coconut chutney, use a grater to get raw coconut that was added to almost every recipe.

My mom cooked every day, she made just enough for the day. She was an excellent cook. Though she was originally vegetarian she learned to make meat and made many amazing meat dishes too that we all loved.

I actually learned to cook just after leaving college where I had to share a house with a few other of my college mates while attending practice school. We couldn't really afford to eat at restaurants so had to learn to cook. At that time, my friends were all vegetarian so I learned to cook vegetarian food. Meat was simply not affordable anyway so we had to stick to vegetables. When I came to the US for the first time again not having enough money meant either unhealthy fast food each day or cooking. This was when I learned to cook.

When I left for the US, I asked my mom to write out her recipes and she did. That was 22 years ago and I still have her recipe book and have carried it with me to 8 different homes, has been my constant companion to cooking anything Indian and represents the best of south Indian cooking.

Here is a PDF of the original, I hope to translate it to this blog eventually but its always nice to have the real thing.

MomRecipes

.pdf

Download PDF • 3.42MB

Bourbon Street Bread Pudding

If you ask anyone who knows me well, what my favorite dessert is, they will probably say either bread pudding or Tres Leches cake. The truth is that its bread pudding though Tres Leches cake is a close second - I guess they both have milk and flour in common which may in turn be because a lot of Indian desserts have milk and flour as a key ingredient. Bread pudding ultimately probably wins out because it also has my 3rd favorite ingredient -- alcohol, especially Bourbon which you will notice is a key ingredient in many of my cocktail recipes.

It may also have to do with my love for New Orleans -- which has many things I love all in one place -- French food, Jazz and Bourbon!

This is bread pudding I made one evening and as you can see before I could take a picture half of it was gone -- our kids Sophia and Sean, clearly loved it. You can see the sauce over to the side. I made this a 2nd time and it came out even better so I have updated the recipe and here is a picture below:

Ingredients

For the Pudding

3/4 loaf of bread -- I use sweet batard bread as it is soft enough on the inside to absorb the milk etc. but also has tougher outside so that the bread pudding doesn't become a mushy mess, but any left over bread, non-sliced rustic white bread is best (not sourdough)

4 cups of milk

1/2 cup Bourbon (for soaking the raisins, and for the sauce below)

3 tablespoons of butter

1 cup of golden raisins

2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

1.5 cups of sugar

3 large eggs (beaten well)

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

For the Sauce

1/2 cup butter (soft)

3 tablespoons of Bourbon (you can reuse the Bourbon from the above list after soaking the raisins

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg (beaten very well)

Recipe

At least an hour ahead of making the pudding, use the half cup of Bourbon to soak the raisins in a bowl so the raisins are completely covered. Leave it aside, the longer you allow for this, the plumper the raisins will be in the pudding. If you forgot to do this earlier, you can put it in the microwave for a minute and you will get them somewhat plump enough.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.

If the bread is a few days old that is best, if it is fresh, first slice the bread into thick (about 1-inch) slices and then lightly toast (about 10 mins) at 200 degrees. This removes some of the moisture and avoids a soggy bread pudding.

In a mixing bowl, gently break up the bread (into thick chunks), now pour the milk over it so it just about peeks out i.e. don't completely drown it -- you should mostly see bread, not milk.

In a seperate mixing bowl beat the 3 eggs, the cinnamon, and vanilla and whisk it well for about a minute. Add the soft butter and 1.5 cups of sugar to it and whisk it until it becomes a nice thick creamy sauce. Drain the raisins and set the Bourbon aside (you will use some of it for the sauce). Now pour the egg, butter and sugar/spice mixture over the bread and milk, adding the Bourbon soaked raisins and gently mix -- don't overdo the mixing, try and get the chunks of bread to remain in tact.

Soften 3 tablespoons of the butter in the microwave. Now grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with the butter. Now pour the bread mixture into the pan and put it in the oven. Let it bake for about 1 hour, it is done when the top pieces get a golden brown and the sides start to separate from the pan.

Take out the pan and set aside to cool down for about 20 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, in a saucepan, melt the 1/2 cup of butter at very low heat (this is important otherwise the sauce will curdle). Once the butter is melted, gently whisk in the egg and the sugar, patiently whisk it with brush so the texture becomes creamy, keep stirring constantly until it feels nice and creamy. Now add the 3 tablespoons of Bourbon to it and continue to stir and then turn the heat off when it looks nice and creamy. If you are ready to serve the bread pudding the sauce is now ready, if not you may have to reheat at low heat before serving.

That's it now serve the bread pudding with the sauce on the side, the sauce is very sweet and tastes of bourbon so folks can add a little or a lot to make the pudding sweeter.

Enjoy!!!