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Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori Cooking

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Prep 30 minutes
Cook 45 minutes
Total 1 hour 15 minutes
Master the art of tandoori cooking with this guide to the perfect marinade. Learn how a two-step marination enhances flavor and tenderness, how to adapt the marinade for chicken, red meat, or fish, and tips for achieving that signature char and vibrant color - all without a tandoor oven.
This recipe is for general reference, see the tandoori recipes posts for details specific to the protein you are cooking.
Course Entree
Cuisine Indian

Ingredients

First Marination
  • 1/2 cup High smoke point oil such as Canola Oil, Peanut or Avocado Oil
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder or Smoked Paprika
  • 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
  • 1/4 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 1 tbsp Green Chillies, chopped optional, to add heat
  • 2 tbsp Ginger-garlic Paste
  • 1/8 tsp Nutmeg powder when cooking red meat
  • 1 tsp Cumin Powder
  • 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
  • 2 tbsp Raw Papaya Paste or other tenderizer, if your protein requires it
  • 2 tsp Salt

Method

Pre-Marination
  1. Mix Ginger-garlic Paste, Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, Salt in about 2-3 tbsp of Lemon Juice. Apply this to the protein and let it sit in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.
    Tandoori Chicken Marinated
Second Marination
  1. In a large bowl combine the yogurt, Ginger-garlic Paste, Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, Garam Masala, Salt and Oil.
    TIP: Since we already used with the first marinade, when you add salt to the yogurt it should not taste too salty.
    Tandoori Chicken Marinated
  2. Whisk all of these ingredients together so they are mixed well.
  3. Apply this marinade to the protein, coating it well on both sides and especially make sure that the marinade gets into the cuts. Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Cooking the Meat
  1. You can cook the meat in the oven at high temperature around 450-500 F, or cook it directly on a grill.
  2. When cooking in the oven be sure to broil the meat towards the end of the cooking to give it the grill-like or tandoor-like finish.

Notes

Why Marinate in Two Steps?
Traditional tandoori recipes often use a two-step marination process:
  • The first marinade (lemon juice, salt, and spices) directly seasons and tenderizes the protein. This helps the flavors penetrate more deeply into the meat.
  • The second marinade (yogurt, spices, and oil) builds richness and forms the flavorful coating that creates the classic tandoori crust when cooked at high heat.
While you can combine everything into a single marinade for convenience, this two-step method produces deeper flavor and a better-textured finish. The one-step marinade recipe follows, if that's how you want to do it.
One-Step Marinade Version
In a large bowl, whisk together:
  • 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
  • 1 tbsp Garam Masala
  • 1 ½ tsp Salt
  • 2-3 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • ½ cup Yogurt
Apply this marinade to the protein, making sure to coat well.

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