Tandoori Chicken

We love the flavours of India. We eat curries often and particularly love delicious naan.  This recipe replicates tender, flavourful tandoori chicken by marinating the meat in yogurt and cooking it over a very hot grill.  I used this recipe from Serious Eats as a guide.  

Start early in the day, preparing the yogurt marinade.  6 to 8 hours in the marinade is enough, you don't want to leave it too long or the yogurt can start cooking the meat.

I removed the skin from the chicken legs (paper towels make this a simple job) and cut some slits into the meat for the marinade to penetrate.

I toasted cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and paprika until fragrant and added them, along with raw minced ginger and garlic to the yogurt.

This will give you a yellow-ish marinade. For the deep red you'll find in Indian restaurants, you can add red food colouring.  I added a bit for a pinkish hue.

Pour the marinade over the chicken and refrigerate for about six hours.

Once the chicken is marinated, grill it over the highest heat you can manage for a nice char.

I served store-bought naan warmed in the oven...

... and some lentils

...and some lentils with curry powder and spinach.

I put some steamed broccoli on the side for a little more green.  Delicious!