Two-Stage Tandoori Chicken, No Red Dye

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Bone-in chicken legs get slashed to the bone and marinated twice — first in a bright lemon, ginger and garlic paste, then in a thick, spiced strained-yogurt coat. A screaming-hot oven with a final blast under the broiler (or a hot charcoal grill) does the work of a tandoor, and all the color comes from Kashmiri chile and sweet paprika instead of food dye. Deeply spiced, juicy at the bone, blistered and blackened at the edges.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 lb bone-in, skin-on chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks separated), or 8 pieces mixed thighs and drumsticks

• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp finely grated garlic (about 4 cloves)
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri chile powder (or 2 tsp sweet paprika plus 1 tsp cayenne)

• 1 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp chickpea flour (besan), optional but helps it cling
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi), crushed, optional
• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 2 tbsp melted ghee or butter
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 1 small red onion, sliced paper-thin
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
• 1/2 tsp chaat masala, for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

1. Pat the chicken very dry. With a sharp knife, cut 2 or 3 deep slashes into each piece, all the way down to the bone — this is what lets the marinade season the meat and not just the skin. If you want a more classic tandoori look, pull the skin off the thighs and drumsticks; leave it on if you want crisper edges.
2. Make the first marinade: in a large bowl, whisk the lemon juice, 2 tsp salt, ginger, garlic and Kashmiri chile powder into a loose paste. Add the chicken and rub the paste into every slash with your hands. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to 2 hours. (Don't go longer — the acid will start to firm up the meat.)
3. Make the yogurt marinade: if using chickpea flour, toast it in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty and turns a shade darker; let it cool. In a bowl, whisk the yogurt, oil, toasted chickpea flour, paprika, garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, cardamom, crushed fenugreek leaves and 1 tsp salt until smooth and thick — it should be the texture of soft frosting, not pourable.
4. Scrape the yogurt mixture over the chicken and massage it in, working it into the slashes again. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours. Overnight is noticeably better.
5. Take the chicken out of the fridge 45 minutes before cooking. Position an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and heat to 475°F. Set a wire rack inside a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and oil the rack.
6. Lift each piece out of the bowl and let the excess marinade slide off — you want a thick, even coat, not puddles. Arrange the pieces on the rack with at least an inch between them. Discard the remaining marinade.
7. Roast at 475°F for 25 minutes. The coating will look pale and set at first, then start to dry and speckle.
8. Brush the chicken with half the melted ghee, switch the oven to broil (high), and broil 4–6 inches from the element for 4–8 minutes, rotating the pan once, until you have real blackened blisters on the high points. Watch it constantly — you want char, not ash. Chicken is done when a thermometer in the thickest part of a thigh reads 175°F; drumsticks are fine up to 185°F.
9. Brush with the remaining ghee, transfer to a platter and rest 5 minutes. Sprinkle with chaat masala if using, and serve with lemon wedges, thin-sliced red onion and cilantro. Squeeze lemon over everything at the table.
10. Grill option: build a hot two-zone charcoal fire or heat a gas grill to high on one side. Cook the chicken on the cooler side, lid down, for 20–25 minutes, turning every 6–7 minutes, then move it over the hot zone for 2–4 minutes per side to blister the coating. Brush with ghee at the end.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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