Fake-bake Tandoori Chicken
Fake Bake Tandoori Chicken
I made this chicken for a party and as soon as it came out the children gathered around it and devoured it. Contrary to popular belief the red color in tandoori is not from chillies but from food coloring. You can omit the red food coloring – it does nothing to enhance the taste – just makes it look more like “tandoori”. I call it “fake-bake” because tandoori chicken is typically made in a clay oven (called tandoor) but I make this in a conventional oven. The spices are also “dumbed down” to make the dish more palatable for the little tastebuds and you can add even less if you prefer. This recipe is very kid friendly and an awesome way to introduce ethnic food to kids at home. Great in wraps for school lunches the next day.
Good one for July 4th as it can be thrown on the grill as well. Tandoori chicken and all that buttermilk ice-cream – strawberry, mango and pineapple! It will be a HAPPY 4th of July.
Serves 2 adults and 2 kids
Ingredients
1 lb chicken breasts/thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes
3/4 cup yoghurt (full/lowfat)
1 tbsp ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
pinch (or more) of red chilli powder (optional)
pinch of red food coloring (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Marinate chicken in all the ingredients for at least 2 hours or overnight (longer is better)
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Bake for 30-35 minutes and if you like it charred you can leave it under the broiler for 5-10 minutes
- Serve on skewers for fun presentation if you desire (no need to bake on skewers – the skewers just make the chicken little fingers friendly)
Tips: Marinate in a ziplock bag for easy clean-up and line oven tray with foil.
This looks great. I am going to give this one a try! Thanks
Great picture!! I have garam masala in the pantry and have wanted a recipe to use it with. I’ve saved this one.
Yay! Do put that garam masala to use!
Beautiful pictures! I always do a fake bake Tandoori, too. This looks so yummy. I will definitely try this in the party!
Tandoori is so yummy. I can hardly wait to try your variation. Since my daughter is vegetarian, I’m always looking for something to tweak.
Would love it if you could try it with tofu or anything else and let us know how it works…I have been toying with the idea myself…
Looks great! I love the idea of preparing this in a conventional oven…no need to buy a clay oven now! I imagine it would be great on the grill, too!
I LOVE tandoori chicken, and cannot wait to make this “fake-bake” version.
Well, I didn’t have tofu on hand or a daughter coming to visit, and I didn’t have fresh ginger but I did have Greek yogurt and chicken tenders. They marinated overnight and I baked them off for lunch. so I went ahead and made the recipe. It was good. It was a strange meal as I was testing whole-wheat biscuits for my blog on June 30. The other food was beets. My husband brought them in from the garden and prepared them. I am not a beet eater at all but I managed to eat 1/4 of one. That may be a record. I’m trying.
I showed humongous retraint and kept aside some of the chicken for my lunch tomorrow.
Greek yogurt works great and lack of ginger doesn’t really affect the dish too much. Thanks for your comment – enjoyed reading it!
This looks great. We make similar skewered chicken for our tikka masala and cook it on the grill…it gives it a nice char. But I have to admit that I love how yours looks with the reddish color!
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I do the same with fish and panneer too
works for me
Will try with fish and paneer. Always do the same ol’ chicken
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