Tandoori Chicken legs

A requested recipe is for my tandoori chicken legs. Now obviously, because it is a homemade tandoori chicken, you will never get that “restaurant style” fragrance because obviously, we have no tandoor ovens at home (a gigantic clay oven in which most tandoori food items and naans are baked in). If your other half or a family member works in a take away or restaurant, of course you can marinate the chicken at home, and send them off to be baked that way, but if you have a grill or oven, just make it at home! (If you have a barbeque, even better but as we are hitting winter temperatures in Birmingham already, I think it unlikely now).

Now most people will marinate their chicken for a minimum of 6 hours, (I do not believe in marinating for any less time) but I have to go one step further and marinate the chicken for 2 whole days (yes you read that right!) If it is in the fridge, that’s fine, the chicken is not breeding any bacteria in there, but remember to take the chicken out half an hour before you cook it. This way the core temperature will come down, and when you flash bake it/grill it, the outside of the chicken will not cook before the inside.

I used:

4 whole chicken leg pieces (thigh and leg joints)

3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. dried methi leaves (fenugreek leaves)
4 cloves garlic
½ inch piece of ginger
7 stalks of coriander
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. oil
5 tbsp. low fat natural yoghurt
¼ tsp. turmeric powder
½ tsp. cumin powder
½ tsp. coriander powder
½ tsp. garam masala
½ tsp. paprika
1 tsp. tandoori masala
2 tsp. Kashmiri red chilli powder
½ tsp. red food colouring
Melted butter for basting
 
Firstly, you need to wash your chicken legs, then make shallow cuts across the thigh and leg piece so the marinade soaks into the chicken.

Once the cuts have been made, place the pieces in a bowl and add your lemon juice and dried methi leaves. Mix well and allow to sit in this mix for about 30 minutes.

Then in a blender put your garlic, ginger, coriander, salt and oil and blend into a paste.

Once the 30 minutes has elapsed, add yoghurt and the green paste to your chicken pieces. Also add the rest of the ingredients (apart from your butter) and mix well until everything is incorporated. Cover the bowl with cling film twice and put into your fridge.

As I mentioned, I left mine for 2 days so that the marinate soaked into the chicken well, but as long as the chicken has had at least 6 hours, you can then bake/grill your chicken pieces.

I used a deep baking tray, with foil lining the bottom, and then a metal tray was placed in it. The chicken pieces were put on the tray, and then basted with some melted butter. The tray was then put into a very hot oven on the top shelf. After 10 minutes, I turned the pieces around, then basted, and put back in the oven. I did this until I felt the chicken was cooked and the outer had a black chargrillness to it (is that a word?).

Unfortunately, my oven is not working and slightly temperamental, so I am unable to provide temperatures/times as to how long you need to cook the chicken for. I did it by eye and baking the chicken pieces took me about 30 - 40 minutes, turning frequently and basting with melted butter every time I turned them around.

And that’s it! Serve the chicken with basmati rice, or as I did with egg fried rice and some Kashmiri Dum Aloo (my next recipe) and a nice salad.

Hope you enjoy!

Yaz ♥