This tandoori hen recipe brings all of the daring flavours of your favorite Indian takeaway into your individual kitchen — no fancy tandoor oven required! With its juicy, charred edges and tender meat, marinated in a gorgeously spiced yoghurt combine, it’s a type of dishes that feels a bit particular. Whether or not you’re cooking it up for a midweek deal with or firing up the bbq for a weekend feast, this recipe is a correct flavour bomb — and simpler than you would possibly assume.
Nicky’s Recipe Notes
I’ve had a smooth spot for tandoori hen cooked on the BBQ, It’s a type of dishes that appears and smells superb. It’s additionally surprisingly easy when you crack the marinade.
Now, I don’t have a clay tandoor oven in my again backyard (if solely!), so this recipe is all about getting that smoky, spiced flavour at dwelling with instruments we’ve all received — your oven, BBQ, and even an air fryer. The trick is within the marinade: spiced yoghurt, lemon juice, garlic, ginger… it tenderises the meat and packs it filled with flavour.
Why I LOVE this recipe:
✅ Large flavour, minimal effort – the marinade does all of the heavy lifting when you chill out.
✅ Versatile cooking – oven, grill, or air fryer… it’s good each method!
✅ Crowd-pleasing – whether or not it’s a Friday night time fakeaway or summer time BBQ, it all the time will get devoured.
📋 Components
With a purpose to make this simple tandoori hen you’ll want:
The perfect minimize of hen for Tandoori Rooster?
Tandoori hen historically makes use of bone-in, skinless hen legs (the drumsticks and thighs). These darkish meat items keep juicy and flavorful when marinated and cooked within the excessive warmth of a tandoor oven, Grill (broiler) or BBQ.
In the event you wished to you could possibly additionally use a full spatchcoked (butterflied) hen
The KEY steps for making Tandoori Rooster
***Full recipe with detailed steps within the recipe card on the finish of this put up***
Find out how to put together the hen
Use a little bit of kitchen roll that can assist you grip the pores and skin — it may be slippery and cussed in any other case! Begin by loosening the pores and skin on the thick finish of the hen leg, then grip it with the kitchen roll and gently pull down towards the slender finish, it ought to come off in a single go.
You wish to rating the hen with deep cuts, that’s going to let the marinade penetrate deeper for much more flavour and assist it cook dinner evenly.
The Tandoori marinade
The tandoori marinade is made up of:
- Yoghurt – I take advantage of Greek Yoghurt as a result of it tenderises the meat fantastically due to its pure acidity, with out making it watery like some thinner yoghurts can. Plus, it holds up effectively throughout cooking, serving to you get that luscious, barely charred coating all of us love in a very good tandoori hen.
- Lemon juice
- Ghee (or oil)
- Garlic & ginger
- Spices together with; garam masala, floor coriander, kashmiri chilli powder, cinnamon, paprika, salt & pepper.
Then you must combine the marinade completely and rub it all around the hen and into the cuts you’ve made within the meat.
Be aware on the Kashmiri Chilli Powder
Kashmiri chilli powder provides you that attractive deep pink color with a mild heat, whereas common chilli powder tends to be a lot hotter and lacks the identical vibrant hue — simply have a look at the distinction within the picture beneath!
Professional Tip
Deliver your marinated hen to room temperature earlier than cooking — it makes an actual distinction.
Via years of testing in my dwelling kitchen, I’ve discovered that permitting the hen to sit down out for half-hour earlier than it hits the warmth ensures a extra even cook dinner. If it’s too chilly, the surface dangers overcooking earlier than the centre is finished, which might result in dry patches. This little step helps hold the meat fantastically juicy from edge to centre — identical to you’d get from a correct tandoor oven.
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Marinade the hen
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In a big bowl combine collectively the marinade substances till completely mixed.
100 g (1/2 cup) Greek yoghurt, 1 tbsp ghee, 1 tbsp minced ginger, 1 tbsp garlic paste, 1 tbsp garam masala, 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp floor coriander, 1/2 tsp floor turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp floor black pepper, 1/4 tsp floor cinnamon, juice of a lemon
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Make some pretty deep slices within the hen
4 hen legs
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Add within the hen and therapeutic massage within the marinade in. Cowl and depart to marinade for six hours or upto 24 hours.
Cooking on the BBQ
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Preheat your BBQ to a reasonably excessive warmth.
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Brush the bbq grill with oil to assist stop sticking
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Add the hen to the BBQ grill and cook dinner over a direct warmth (above the coals) for 25 minutes turning over a few instances throughout cooking.
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Take away the hen to relaxation as soon as the it has hit an inner temperature of 80–85°C (175–185°F).
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Relaxation for five minutes earlier than serving sprinkled with some recent coriander (cilantro).
recent coriander
Cooking beneath the grill (broiler within the US)
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Preheat your grill (broiler) to excessive warmth (round 240°C / 460°F)
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Line a baking tray with foil and place a wire rack on prime (optionally available, however helps with air circulation and charring). Place the marinated hen on prime of the wire rack.
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Place the baking tray within the oven on the center shelf (not too near the warmth) and cook dinner for 25 minutes, turning over as soon as midway by means of.
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Take away the hen to relaxation as soon as the it has hit an inner temperature of 80–85°C (175–185°F).
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Relaxation for five minutes earlier than serving sprinkled with some recent coriander (cilantro).
recent coriander
Cooking within the Air Fryer
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Spray the air fryer basket with spray oil. Add the hen legs in in a single layer (you might must work in two batches, relying on the dimensions of your air fryer).
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Air fry for 20 minutes, turning the hen over midway by means of the cooking time. The hen ought to be piping sizzling and now not pink within the center with an inner temperature of 80–85°C (175–185°F).
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Relaxation for five minutes earlier than serving sprinkled with some recent coriander (cilantro).
Dietary info is approximate, per serving (this recipe serves 4).
Energy: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 25g | Fats: 28g | Saturated Fats: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 5g | Monounsaturated Fats: 11g | Trans Fats: 0.1g | Ldl cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 425mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g
Vitamin info is mechanically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
Totally different Cooking strategies
Cooking the hen beneath the grill or within the air fryer is in fact the simplest method and it’s not weather-dependant. Nevertheless, my FAVOURITE technique to cook dinner tandoori hen is on the barbecue. The smoky flavour and that wealthy marinade ends in an unbeatable flavour. In the event you’ve received time to fireplace up the BBQ then please give it a go!
🍽️ Find out how to serve with Tandoori Rooster?
I like to serve up these scrumptious, barely charred, hen legs with some lemon wedges, sliced pink onion and a sprinkle of recent coriander, then serve alongside:
🍲 Extra implausible Indian Rooster Dishes
? Steadily Requested Questions
Not overly! The great thing about do-it-yourself tandoori hen is you possibly can management the warmth. I take advantage of Kashmiri chilli powder which provides that attractive pink color and mild heat with out setting your mouth on hearth. In the event you’re cooking for little ones or spice-shy eaters, you possibly can cut back the chilli powder — it’ll nonetheless be full of flavour from the opposite spices within the marinade.
That signature deep pink color you usually see in restaurant-style tandoori hen historically comes from Kashmiri chilli powder — it’s a light spice that provides vibrant color with out an excessive amount of warmth. In some eating places they could add a contact of pink meals colouring. Personally, I skip the meals dye and depend on the pure color from the chilli and paprika – and it nonetheless appears to be like attractive and feels a bit extra home-cooked and sincere.
Sure, and it’s really even higher whenever you do! Marinating the hen the night time earlier than provides the spices and yoghurt loads of time to work their magic — tenderising the meat and infusing it with flavour. I usually prep it the night earlier than a BBQ or ceremonial dinner, then merely pop it in on the BBQ or beneath the grill (broiler) after I’m prepared. Simply you should definitely retailer it within the fridge in a sealed container and convey it to room temperature earlier than cooking for the very best outcomes.
For max flavour and juiciness, I all the time advocate bone-in, skinless hen legs. They maintain up fantastically to the excessive warmth and lengthy marination.
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