Tandoori Chicken (9/02)

[KValley]

DH is doing dishes, so I dashed in here to post of review of our just-finished dinner.

My only complaint about this month's Tandoori Chicken recipe is that there wasn't enough marinade!! Tandoori Chicken I have had in Indian restaurants is usually basted in a rich, thick, pungent sauce. The picture in the magazine doesn't show any marinade and the recipe even says to discard it, which is a pity, because it's good stuff.

I made the full amount of marinade with half the chicken and I still don't think it was enough. I broiled the chicken, covering the broiler pan first with aluminum foil so the marinade wouldn't drip through, and poured the marinade on top. Next time I will double the amount of marinade and use the accompanying grain (i.e. rice, couscous, tabbouleh, dal) to soak it up. I made the chicken this morning, so it marinated about 10 hours. It was very tender and juicy.

The sauce is a bit on the mild side for my tastes, so here are plans for the next time:
*Kick up the chili powder or add a touch of cayenne
*Add a tablespoon of tomato paste
*Sautee the onions and garlic, then add the spices to the pan to cook a bit to bring out the smoky flavors.

Lorilei- I said this was my first attempt at Tandoori Chicken, but I'd forgotten that I'd made the controversial NOvember '01 recipe- which I thought really lacked oomph. I do like this one much better! It's a repeat because I'd like to play around with the flavors a bit more. I also need an excuse to try this with Viognier to compare it with tonight's Gewurtraminer

To accompany, I made the Orzo Salad with Dill, CHickpeas, and Lemon from August 02. I was afraid it would be a little bland, so I added a roasted red pepper, used feta flavored with sundried tomato and basil, and put some sliced kalamata olives on top before serving. Thought it was delicious- a cool, herby, refreshing complement to the earthy, spicy chicken.

Enjoy! Julie

[JackieO]

Sounds yummy, that was a recipe that caught my eye, now that I have returned from vacation and gone through the magazine. Thanks for the review.

[Ralph]

Thanks for the review. It's on the menu for next week - I just have to modify my shopping list to make more sauce.

[funnybone]

Thanks for the review. I want to make it, but DH is not a fan of curry and indian spices. However, I sneak them in on occasion and what he doesn't know doesen't hurt

As for that Orzo salad, I've made it before as per recipe, and I really enjoyed it. It sounds like it would be a great pairing to the chicken.

[pwrmom]

This Tandoori recipe was on my menu this week as well and I agree with Julie... the flavor needs to be "kicked up" a bit. I followed the recipe exactly, marinated for a full day and grilled the chicken breasts leaving the yogurt marinade caked on the chicken. Made an extra effort to keep an eye not to overcook and still the chicken was moist, but the marinade was gone - no juices at all! I hated throwing out all of that wonderful marinade, but that's what the recipe said to do. I think maybe cooking this on top of the stove in some of the marinade might result in a more "saucy" dish. I bet broiling or baking would yield more juices as well. Grilling just seemed to dry it out.
Linda

[emily]

I haven't tried this recipe (I don't even have my September yet ), but I just wanted to jump in and say that traditionally tandoori chicken is dry, not saucey. It does sit in a yogurt based marinade all day to moisten it, but then it is barbequed sans sauce. So it sounds to me like the recipe is on track.

Glad to hear the recipe has potential. I've always made it using a jarred sauce that you combine with yogurt.



emily

[valchemist]

Originally posted by emily
traditionally tandoori chicken is dry, not saucey. It does sit in a yogurt based marinade all day to moisten it, but then it is barbequed sans sauce. So it sounds to me like the recipe is on track.

Good call. I agree. Whenever I have had Tandoori Chicken in a restaurant, there hasn't been a "sauce."

[claire797]

Originally posted by pwrmom
I think maybe cooking this on top of the stove in some of the marinade might result in a more "saucy" dish. I bet broiling or baking would yield more juices as well. Grilling just seemed to dry it out.
Linda

Traditional tandoori is not saucey at all, but you could make an Indian sauce to go with it. I don't have a sauce recipe in particular, but I've seen lots of them.

Another interesting thing about tandoori is that a lot of times it's red. They use red dye in the marinade.

I'm going to try CL's version Monday night.

[KValley]

Regardless of any restaurant experiences with tandoori, I still hold by my enthusiasm for this marinade and the conviction that it should be basted onto or broiled with the chicken rather than tossed into the trash!

[sueandwill]

Originally posted by claire797


Traditional tandoori is not saucey at all, but you could make an Indian sauce to go with it. I don't have a sauce recipe in particular, but I've seen lots of them.

Another interesting thing about tandoori is that a lot of times it's red. They use red dye in the marinade.

I'm going to try CL's version Monday night.

Julie,
Perhaps Butter Chicken is what you may be describing since the chicken has typical tandoori
spices and a sauce made with cream based ingredients.

As for why the marinade looks red (or rosy) it's because paprika is a common ingredient in most traditional tandoori recipes.

I make my own version of tandoori chicken and often use the marinade to baste tofu or paneer(Indian cheese) instead of chicken for a vegetarian twist!

[lorilei]

Originally posted by KValley
Regardless of any restaurant experiences with tandoori, I still hold by my enthusiasm for this marinade and the conviction that it should be basted onto or broiled with the chicken rather than tossed into the trash!

I totally missed this over the weekend! Thanks for the review!!

Julie -- I tend to agree. I ALWAYS retain the marinade when I make tandoori chicken. I love the flavor, and it makes a great sauce. I suppose it's not the most authentic... but I can't stop. I'm addicted.

[claire797]

I made this Monday night. We doubled the marinade and grilled it on the charcoal grill. The chicken breasts were good, but not out of this world. For all the ingredients used, it wasn't really worth the trouble.

[Kristine]

We made this on Tuesday, and I ate some leftovers cold on Wednesday as well. I used 3 chicken breasts and didn't reduce the marinade. Follwed the recipe exactly...put the chicken on the grill and threw out the extra yogurt marinade. We overall liked it, but like Claire said, not out of this world; good seasonings, but IMO pretty much all grilled chicken breasts taste ABOUT the same. May make it again eventually. . .

[foodfiend]

I made this for lunch this week. I agree with everyone else. It's a good recipe, but it didn't knock my socks off. Too bad because the picture looked enticing.

[Ralph]

Made this for dinner tonight. DW really liked it, but I thought it was just OK.

I had plenty of marinade and ended up marinating the chicken for about 20 hours. I took the chicken directly from the bag it was marinating in to the grill. Unfortunately, I think I waited just a bit too long before putting the chicken on the grill; the coals weren't quite hot enough to sear the chicken (like the picture shows). Consequently, it took about 6-7 minutes longer to cook than the recipe indicated, and it turned out quite moist. (I think the lack of searing also didn't burn off the remaining marinade.)

Even though DW liked it, she said we have enough other tandoori recipes that we don't need to keep this one.

[cinnamon_queen]

I made this dish tonight with the Taboullah rice mix. I didn't like the taste of it at all. The chicken flavor was okay and the breasts came out pretty tender, but I've had much better flavor and much more tender chicken.

The tabbouleh was okay, but I did NOT care for the lemon juice/olive oil blend drizzled over the bulgar. I ended up just throwing that away and eating the plain bulgar...much better.

Overall, I won't be making this again. I'm glad I tried it though. It was nice to try to something different and another ethnic cuisine besides the ones I'm used to.