Tandoori Chicken

Preparation info
  • Serves

    4

    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in
Yatra: A culinary journey across India

By Rohit Ghai

Published 2025

  • About

Tandoori chicken is a North Indian dish of on-the-bone chicken marinated in yogurt and spices, then charred in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven. Out of all the kebabs and tandoori preparations, it’s fair to say that this dish is “king”, which is demonstrated by its popularity across the world.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken (1.2–1.4kg/2¾–3¼lb)
  • 50 g/ oz butter, melted, for greasing and basting</

Method

Cut the chicken into 4 pieces, keeping it on the bone. The easiest way to do this is to remove the wing tips with kitchen shears, cut through the skin connecting breast to thigh, then remove the legs; flip the chicken over and remove the backbone with shears, then split the breast in half by cutting through the centre. Make deep gashes over the surface of the chicken pieces and place in a large