Smoked Tandoori Chicken Leg Quarters

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Yogurt-marinated chicken leg quarters cooked low and slow at 250°F over apple wood until the meat pulls away from the bone. The smoke does what a tandoor's live fire would: a deep, gently sweet smokiness under a bright, warm masala crust. Five minutes of hands-on work the night before, then the smoker handles the rest.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken leg quarters (about 3 lb total)
• 3/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp kosher salt

• 2 tbsp ghee, melted (or melted butter)
• 3 chunks apple wood chunks

Instructions

1. Pat the chicken leg quarters dry and slash each thigh and drumstick 2 or 3 times down to the bone so the marinade and smoke get inside. In a large bowl, stir together the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, Kashmiri chili powder, garam masala, cumin, turmeric and salt. Add the chicken, turn to coat into every slash, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
2. Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Set up your smoker for indirect cooking at 250°F and add 3 apple wood chunks (or a foil packet of soaked apple chips in a gas or electric smoker). Wait until the smoke runs thin and blue rather than white and billowing.
3. Wipe off the thickest gobs of marinade so a thin, even coat remains — pooled yogurt steams instead of setting. Lay the quarters skin side up directly on the grate, leaving 2 inches between them, and close the lid.
4. Smoke undisturbed for 2 hours at 250°F. Do not open the lid before then; the marinade needs that time to dry into a crust.
5. Brush the quarters with the melted ghee and keep smoking until an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, reads 180°F to 185°F — usually another 30 to 60 minutes. Dark meat is at its most tender here, not at 165°F.
6. For crisper skin, open the vents and bring the smoker up to 375°F for the last 10 to 15 minutes, watching so the spices do not scorch.
7. Rest the chicken on a board for 10 minutes, then serve whole or pulled off the bone, with lemon wedges, rice or warm naan.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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