Tandoori Chicken

Why marinate in two stages?

Because the two marinades do different jobs and interfere with each other if combined. The first is lemon juice, salt, ginger and garlic, which is thin enough to penetrate the slashes and begins loosening the surface proteins. The second is thick curd, which clings to the outside, forms the crust and protects the meat from the direct heat. Put curd in first and it coats the surface, sealing it so the lemon and salt never reach the interior. Half an hour for the first and several hours for the second is the sensible division.

What does the curd do that lemon cannot?

It tenderises gently and it sticks. Curd is mildly acidic and contains calcium and enzymes that work slowly, so meat can sit in it overnight without harm. Strong acid does the opposite: leave chicken in lemon juice for hours and the surface proteins tighten and turn chalky, giving meat that is dry on the outside and raw tasting within. The curd must be thick or hung, since watery curd slides off in the oven and pools in the tray instead of forming a crust.

Why score the meat?

So heat, salt and marinade all reach the middle. A whole chicken leg is thick enough that its centre is still cold when the surface is charring, and the slashes shorten that distance considerably. They also give the marinade somewhere to sit and they show you doneness directly, since you can see the colour of the flesh at the base of a cut without carving anything. Cut to the bone, three cuts per piece, at an angle rather than straight down.

Can it be made without a tandoor?

Reasonably well. A domestic oven at its highest setting with the grill finishing the job gives good colour and proper cooking, though it will never reproduce the specific smokiness of clay and charcoal. The gap can be narrowed with the dhungar method: put the cooked pieces in a covered pot with a small steel bowl holding a glowing charcoal, drip a little ghee onto the coal and shut the lid for five minutes. On a gas hob, a heavy tawa with a wire rack over it, covered, does a creditable job for two or three pieces at a time.

How do you tell it is cooked through?

Juices from a pierced thigh should run clear with no pink tinge, the flesh at the base of the deepest slash should be opaque all the way to the bone, and the leg should feel loose at the joint. Where a probe thermometer is available, 75 C at the thickest part is the figure to use. Chicken is not a meat to serve pink, and undercooked poultry carries a real risk of salmonella and campylobacter, so check the thickest piece rather than the most convenient one. Never baste with marinade that has been sitting with raw chicken unless you boil it first.

Why is it the leanest chicken dish on the menu?

Because the skin is removed before cooking, the coating is curd rather than batter or cream, and the fat that renders drips through the rack instead of being eaten. Compared against chicken 65, which is battered and deep fried, or a cream based curry, the difference is substantial. This is the reason tandoori chicken turns up so often in training diets, and the sports nutrition course uses dishes like it as a worked example. If you eat chicken most days, the discussion in is it healthy to eat chicken every day is a fair summary of what is known.

What is served with it?

Onion rings with lemon, a green chutney, and a bread, usually tandoori roti since the same oven is already hot. The boneless version of the same marinade cooked on skewers is chicken tikka, which goes into a great many other dishes. Leftovers shred well into a wrap or a salad the next day and hold for three days refrigerated, though the crust softens once it is chilled.