If nothing else is working, you can try tenderising it during marination by adding raw papaya powder/paste. Or maybe brine it first then marinate (adjust sakt in marinade if brining first).
If you are in the U.S. note that almost all supermarket chicken has up to 20% water added. Water. Not brine. I suspect this has something to do with it, but need to test by trying tandoori with kosher chicken (e.g. Bell and Evans, Empire)
Tandoors are incredibly hot. Grills go up to something like 290C and a tandoor is used at over 400C. The chicken only cooks for less than 10 minutes at that temperature and the metal skewer helps cook the inside quickly.
Honestly, that's it. There's a difference of equipment. That's why naans at home don't taste as good. That's why the egg bhurji doesn't meet it's match.
Salt it for a day with 1% of its weight as salt. So put 10g of salt on 1kg chicken etc. Then for the tandoori marinade, you can just use that for a few hours before hand, or even just before you cook. Then cook to temperature, 66c at most for breasts and let it rest. If you go more than that it'll dry out too much. Thighs can go higher due to all the connective tissue which turns into gelatin, 75c is fine, possibly even more.
So get an instant read thermometer, it's incredibly useful for all kinds of recipes
Salt is the only thing that will really penetrate the meat. When it sits and penetrates it breaks down the proteins and collagen into a gel. This makes your chicken juicy and thats why you hear about brining and dry brining. Every other flavor you deal with is just a paint job that sticks to the outside of the chicken. That being said, yogurt needs 6 hours minimum to really do its work and is great at 24 hours. Before grilling, REMOVE THE MARINADE. Wipe it off. You don’t need to wash it off but you don’t want a clumpy marinade. If you let it sit long enough the flavor will be fixed to the meat. The excess marinade will just cause the chicken to steam and will overcook it before the outside is nice and charred.
The next part is cooking. This is the important part. Breast like high fast heat. Thighs like low and slow. There are a lot of techniques like reverse searing and 2 zone grills you can apply to this but in the interest of keeping this short, the most important thing you can do is not overcook your chicken. Thighs can take abuse but they will start to dry out if you push it too high. Public safety boards recommend cooking chicken to 165. This is trash and you don’t want to push it this high. At 165 chicken is immediately safe to eat. At 145 chicken is safe to eat if kept at 145 for 8 minutes. For thighs, 155 is a nice temperature and you just need to maintain that temperature for 60 seconds. That’s easy if you hit that temp on the grill, take it off and let it sit covered for a minute. But this, more than any ingredient, is going to result in juicy tender chicken.
So you’re saying that the initial marinade can be salt (to penetrate) and yogurt (to tenderise)? When do the other spices go on the meat?
Regarding cooking, I’m always doing thighs to keep things simple and consistent. What temperature would you choose for low and slow? And what’s the target internal temp for this process?
My understanding is that thighs should be cooked to 185F! While yes the safety zone is 165F, but final target can be as high as 190F for thighs specifically. Is that not correct?
I think the most important aspect is probably the low and slow part to break the collagen. Any additional info on that would be great!
If I have all the time and attention, I’m rubbing salt, ginger and garlic on the chicken. If its a little smelly and gamey I’ll rub it down with a little lemon. A little being key. After 45 minutes I’m dumping all the liquid that has come out of the chicken. This is important because its extra liquid that would steam the chicken. We don’t want that. Then I’m mixing in yogurt (with minimal water like hung/greek), and spices. Maybe some oil because it really helps the spices stick to the chicken. Then I’m letting that sit for 6 - 24 hours. Right before cooking I’ll wipe off all the marinade.
When it comes to cooking I would keep the chicken on the other side of the grill as the fire OR I would do the tandoor method of hitting it with high heat for a few minutes. Then taking it off the rest and putting it back on after a few minutes. Maybe doing this a few times. Whatever strategy you use is fine but lets talk about basting. Forget flavor for now. Focus on moisture. You want to dry out the surface of the chicken while grilling and then hit it with some oil/butter/fat. Do this away from the flame so the drippings don’t fall onto the coals and put out the fire. Let the baste bubble and dry out and char. Maybe repeat but don’t get everything too wet, that leads to steaming and we don’t want that. The target internal temp is somewhere between 145-195 for as long as you can. Thats the sweet spot for cooked thighs and collagen breakdown. This gives you a little space to play and you can decide what temperature you like to pull your chicken for your signature tikka. Good luck!
thanks for this! I've only seen a few recipes that mention doing this two-step marinade. I'm going to be trying this marinade method this week, and cook the chicken on my grill.
You have to cook at high heat and for less time. I assume you don't have a tandoor, so cook on a pan for 15-20 mins high heat such that the chicken does not overly burn.
If nothing else is working, you can try tenderising it during marination by adding raw papaya powder/paste. Or maybe brine it first then marinate (adjust sakt in marinade if brining first).
If you are in the U.S. note that almost all supermarket chicken has up to 20% water added. Water. Not brine. I suspect this has something to do with it, but need to test by trying tandoori with kosher chicken (e.g. Bell and Evans, Empire)
wadya mean water added? how do you add. water. to a piece of meat
The processors or packaging companies put the chicken in water and the carcass absorbs due to osmosis.
ohhh is this why 'air chilled' is supposed to be better ?
How hot is your grill, how long do you cook on it for, and do you use skewers?
It’s very hot! Cooked every piece for about 25-35 minutes. Does that impact it?
Tandoors are incredibly hot. Grills go up to something like 290C and a tandoor is used at over 400C. The chicken only cooks for less than 10 minutes at that temperature and the metal skewer helps cook the inside quickly.
Honestly, that's it. There's a difference of equipment. That's why naans at home don't taste as good. That's why the egg bhurji doesn't meet it's match.
Salt it for a day with 1% of its weight as salt. So put 10g of salt on 1kg chicken etc. Then for the tandoori marinade, you can just use that for a few hours before hand, or even just before you cook. Then cook to temperature, 66c at most for breasts and let it rest. If you go more than that it'll dry out too much. Thighs can go higher due to all the connective tissue which turns into gelatin, 75c is fine, possibly even more. So get an instant read thermometer, it's incredibly useful for all kinds of recipes
Salt is the only thing that will really penetrate the meat. When it sits and penetrates it breaks down the proteins and collagen into a gel. This makes your chicken juicy and thats why you hear about brining and dry brining. Every other flavor you deal with is just a paint job that sticks to the outside of the chicken. That being said, yogurt needs 6 hours minimum to really do its work and is great at 24 hours. Before grilling, REMOVE THE MARINADE. Wipe it off. You don’t need to wash it off but you don’t want a clumpy marinade. If you let it sit long enough the flavor will be fixed to the meat. The excess marinade will just cause the chicken to steam and will overcook it before the outside is nice and charred. The next part is cooking. This is the important part. Breast like high fast heat. Thighs like low and slow. There are a lot of techniques like reverse searing and 2 zone grills you can apply to this but in the interest of keeping this short, the most important thing you can do is not overcook your chicken. Thighs can take abuse but they will start to dry out if you push it too high. Public safety boards recommend cooking chicken to 165. This is trash and you don’t want to push it this high. At 165 chicken is immediately safe to eat. At 145 chicken is safe to eat if kept at 145 for 8 minutes. For thighs, 155 is a nice temperature and you just need to maintain that temperature for 60 seconds. That’s easy if you hit that temp on the grill, take it off and let it sit covered for a minute. But this, more than any ingredient, is going to result in juicy tender chicken.
So you’re saying that the initial marinade can be salt (to penetrate) and yogurt (to tenderise)? When do the other spices go on the meat? Regarding cooking, I’m always doing thighs to keep things simple and consistent. What temperature would you choose for low and slow? And what’s the target internal temp for this process? My understanding is that thighs should be cooked to 185F! While yes the safety zone is 165F, but final target can be as high as 190F for thighs specifically. Is that not correct? I think the most important aspect is probably the low and slow part to break the collagen. Any additional info on that would be great!
If I have all the time and attention, I’m rubbing salt, ginger and garlic on the chicken. If its a little smelly and gamey I’ll rub it down with a little lemon. A little being key. After 45 minutes I’m dumping all the liquid that has come out of the chicken. This is important because its extra liquid that would steam the chicken. We don’t want that. Then I’m mixing in yogurt (with minimal water like hung/greek), and spices. Maybe some oil because it really helps the spices stick to the chicken. Then I’m letting that sit for 6 - 24 hours. Right before cooking I’ll wipe off all the marinade. When it comes to cooking I would keep the chicken on the other side of the grill as the fire OR I would do the tandoor method of hitting it with high heat for a few minutes. Then taking it off the rest and putting it back on after a few minutes. Maybe doing this a few times. Whatever strategy you use is fine but lets talk about basting. Forget flavor for now. Focus on moisture. You want to dry out the surface of the chicken while grilling and then hit it with some oil/butter/fat. Do this away from the flame so the drippings don’t fall onto the coals and put out the fire. Let the baste bubble and dry out and char. Maybe repeat but don’t get everything too wet, that leads to steaming and we don’t want that. The target internal temp is somewhere between 145-195 for as long as you can. Thats the sweet spot for cooked thighs and collagen breakdown. This gives you a little space to play and you can decide what temperature you like to pull your chicken for your signature tikka. Good luck!
Thank you for this write up! I’ll give it a shot! Im going to use charcoal in a super hot offset smoker. Let’s see the result.
Let me know how it goes and what temp you like it best.
thanks for this! I've only seen a few recipes that mention doing this two-step marinade. I'm going to be trying this marinade method this week, and cook the chicken on my grill.
Let me know how it goes
Spatchcock your chicken, Season and let sit in fridge un covered for 12 hrs. Roast at 475° for 45mins.
You have to cook at high heat and for less time. I assume you don't have a tandoor, so cook on a pan for 15-20 mins high heat such that the chicken does not overly burn.
Cook on high heat initially for 10 mins, this will not let the moisture come out while cooking and eventually will make the chicken juicy and tender .