For us Indians, Tandoori Chicken is a love and hate relationship story. Many of us love tandoori chicken but preparing it at home has always been a hassle until I found this recipe with lil tweaks of my own. It has been a hit and miss a lot of times for me with Grilled chicken but this time I hit the nail on spot with the taste and method. I was extremely happy with the result. Try this at home. Takes less efforts than on OTG/BBQ Grill.

For Chicken Marination:

Take leg/thigh pieces of chicken in a bowl and cut deep slits on them. Add 1/4 tbspoon of turmeric, 1 tbspoon of chilli powder, Salt as per taste and rub properly on the chicken.The spices should be rubbed properly into slits as well and then keep it aside or in the refrigerator. Now for the 2nd step. Take another bowl, put half a cup hung curd in it, add 1/2 tbspoon red chilli powder, 1/2 tbspoon of Indian spice known as Garam masala powder, 1/2 tbspoon of powdered black pepper, 1 tbspoon Chaat masala, 1/4th tbspoon of orange food color(if available), 5-6 drops of lemon juice and mix the whole thing. If the mixture looks too thick then add more curd to dilute it. Now, add the marrinated chicken into the the mixture and rub it all over, and inside the slits. Cover the bowl and keep it aside for 1 hour minimum (The longer, the better).

Cooking the chicken:

Many people use Otg/Oven but compared to that I find the Pan method easier and faster. Take a pan and heat 1 tbspoon oil and 1/2 tblspoon of butter in it. Then, add the pieces of chicken one by one. Keep frying them in low medium flame by changing sides each time for around 7 minutes.

Since tandoori is all about its smoky flavour. For that, take a piece of coal, Burn it in your gas stove for a while then put it in a small steel bowl and put that bowl in middle of the frying pan with the chicken pieces while its hot, also add a little dash of butter on the coal and close the lid for the while until the smoke subsides. And then take out the coal and fry the chickdn for few more minutes. Your juicy tender tandoori chicken is ready.

For that BBQ/Smokey aftertaste and smell:

If you do not have coal/BBQ grill, What you can do is when your done frying the chicken. Just pick the pieces up with tongs and put it over gas stove fire, this also gives a certain smoky taste.

For mint sauce:
You will need a handful of Mint and Coriander leaves. The quantity of mint must be less than coriander leaves. Add the leaves with chillies and garlic pieces in a grinder and grind them together. Then add salt and 3-4 drops of lemon juice.. Your sauce dip is ready.