How to Cook the PERFECT TANDOORI CHICKEN at Home | SECRETS of Juicy & Smoky Tandoori Chicken Recipe

This popular Indian restaurant dish can be easily made at home without adding lots of oil, butter or color. Hi, I'm Shermy and today I'm going to show you how to make the perfect tandoori chicken at home. This tandoori chicken will be juicy, flavorful and smoky. I will also be making a mint coriander chutney which is traditionally served with tandoori chicken. Before we get started, please subscribe to the channel and also press the notification icon. It doesn't cost you anything but it will really help me out. Now let's get started. Let's talk about the chicken. Here I have around 800 grams of chicken legs. For tandoori chicken we use skinless chicken pieces. I'm using a whole leg of chicken but you can also use drumsticks or chicken thighs. If you want to use a whole chicken, I have a recipe for that in the description below. I will put some shallow slits on the chicken pieces. It will help to absorb the marinade better and it will cook evenly as we are going to put the cuts on the thicker part of the chicken. Two slits on the thighs, one slit on the joint, one slit on the drumstick and I will also cut the tendon around the drumstick. I cut the tendon because when the meat will cook it will separate from the bone. This is a very good indication that chicken has cooked properly. Now let's talk about the marination. Tandoori chicken needs a two-step marination. For the first marination we need 2 tsp of ginger garlic paste, half a tsp of kashmiri red chilli powder, 1 tbsp of lemon juice and half tsp of salt. Now let's marinate the chicken. Ginger garlic paste, salt, kashmiri red chilli powder and tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix them well. This first marination will help to take out any off smell from the chicken plus it will really tenderize and flavor the meat from inside. Make sure the slits are covered with the marination. So I have added all the ginger garlic paste in the first marination so I will not add any more ginger garlic paste on the second marination. If you have a little bit fat around just leave it. It will add extra flavor. This is done. We are going to marinate this for at least 30 minutes. You can also marinate it for overnight that will give you the best results. I'm going to marinate it for 30 minutes today. While my chicken is marinating let's prepare the second layer of marination. For second layer of marination we need 1 by 3rd cup of hung yogurt. Hung yogurt will help the marinade to stick to chicken. To make hung yogurt take plain yogurt put it on a strainer and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes. It will drain out the moisture and the yogurt will be thicker. Other than that we need 1 tablespoon of kashmiri red chilli powder. This chilli powder will give you that beautiful red color without adding any artificial colors. Kashmiri red chilli powder is mild but if it's too much for you replace half of the chilli powder with paprika. 2 teaspoon of coriander powder, half teaspoon of cumin powder, 1 teaspoon of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of dried roasted fenugreek leaves. I have roasted them but you can also just use the dried one. Salt to taste. Remember we already added salt in the first marination so be careful. 1 teaspoon of chickpea flour and it's completely optional. This will also help the marinade to stick to the chicken. And 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise. Mayonnaise will keep the chicken moist and will give a nice crispy exterior. In restaurants and dhabas in India they use egg whites. I'm using mayonnaise because it gives more flavor. Now let's prepare the marination. Heat up a pan and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Keep it on high heat. Let the oil heat up. Once the oil is hot switch off the heat. Wait for 10 seconds. Add the chickpea flour. Fry it. This will give a nice nuttiness to the marination. If you're not using chickpea flour just warm up the oil and switch off the heat and then add the kashmiri red chilli powder. Remember we already switched off the heat. Just toast the chickpea flour in the oil. Toast it for around a minute till the heat reduces. It's warm now. Now I will add the kashmiri red chilli powder. So when you add the chilli powder in the oil that will bloom the red color. It will intensify the red color in your marination. It's already looking so bright so there is no need to add any artificial color. You will find most of the restaurants add lots of color to their tandoori chicken. This is looking good. Let's transfer it to the marination bowl. Now I'm going to add rest of the ingredients into this. My hung yogurt, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, dried fenugreek leaves, salt to taste and mayonnaise. Mix properly and whisk it till it becomes a smooth paste. You can see the marination is quite smooth. There is no lump from the yogurt. So now I'm going to add the chicken. If there is any liquid left in the first marination, discard it. Mix them properly. Make sure each piece is coated nicely with the beautiful marination. You can let this marinate to sit for 30 minutes up to two hours. If you marinate for more than two hours, chicken will release its juices and the marination will not stick to the chicken properly. To replicate the smokiness of the tandoor, I'm going to use the dhungar method. Place an aluminum foil or a bowl over the marinated chicken. Heat up a charcoal. Once the charcoal is burning hot, place it on the bowl. Pour some ghee or butter over it and seal it properly so that the smoke does not escape. I'm using a lid but you can also use an aluminum foil or a cling wrap. Let it smoke for at least 10 minutes. While my chicken is marinating, let's make the dipping sauce. I'm using half a cup of fresh coriander, one-fourth cup of mint, one green chilli, one garlic, one tablespoon of lemon juice, half cup of yogurt and salt to taste. Grind it into a smooth sauce. Our quick and easy dipping sauce is ready. We will also thinly slice some onion to serve with the tandoori chicken. My chicken has marinated for more than 30 minutes so let's start cooking. I'm using a rack over a baking tray. The rack will help to circulate the air evenly around the chicken. I have lined the baking tray with aluminum foil so that I don't need to clean the tray. I will spray some cooking oil on the rack so that my chicken doesn't stick to the rack. I have preheated my oven to its maximum temperature which is 250 degrees celsius. Bake it for 25 to 30 minutes but the timings might vary from oven to oven. Instead of the oven, you can also grill, pan fry or air fry your chicken. It will come out best in a charcoal grill. Oven is the easiest method and you can also cook it in bulk. Once your oven is nice and hot, place the chicken pieces on the rack. Place the meaty side up. Keep some distance between the chicken pieces. Put the leftover marination over the chicken and this is ready to go in the oven. After 10 minutes, brush the chicken with some butter. This will help to retain the moisture and make the chicken juicy. It's been 30 minutes and my tandoori chicken is ready. It's looking beautiful and delicious. Brush the chicken with leftover juices from the tray. We don't want to waste any of that flavor and it will also make your tandoori chicken look better. Serve with the mint coriander sauce, sliced onions, lemons and some tandoori naan. If you want to make naan at home, see my easy naan recipe video. Link is in the description below. My tandoori chicken came out really nice. It has a nice color and beautiful charred on the outside. So let's give it a try. Let me check how juicy it is. This came out so nicely and so moist. Let me squeeze some lemon juice. Dip it in my sauce. Add an onion. Perfect bite. Wow! My chicken has cooked perfectly. It's so juicy. It got tons of flavor and that smokiness from the dhungar. Wow! It's a perfect tandoori chicken. Much much better than a restaurant one. The chicken is tender, flavorful, smoky and delicious. Those tandoori spices are adding so much flavor. The dipping sauce is adding such a nice freshness to the tandoori chicken. The edges are nice and crispy. Very yummy. So give this tandoori chicken a try. It's so easy to make and if you follow my recipe and tips, it will come out perfect every time. This is great for meal prep and it is also quite healthy if you make it at home. Enjoy this with some naan, roti, rice or bread or you can have it by itself with some salad. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. Please like, share and subscribe and see you in the next video.