On tandoori.

[pedro]

Heated debate at lunch. At my dad's birthday, a discussion on tandoori developed. My sister said that he saw Juan Mari Arzak, father of the spanish new wave of cooking, respected by everyone in the profession and three starred chef, describing tandoori as mixture of spices. I stated that I've always heard the term tandoor referring to the oven itself where the food is cooked, not to the spices used. I don't exactly know why, but she preferred to believe the most respected person in the culinary scene of the country rather than me .

Could someone bring some light to the issue, please?

[Edward]

The tandoor is the oven and foods cooked in it are called tandoori, including breads, which have no spices. There is a spice blend called tandoori masala, but it is called that because it is used on foods to be cooked in a tandoor. At the same time, not all foods cooked in tandoor would get tandoori masala. The real secret is in the marinade, which usually contains yogurt.

[pedro]

Thanks Edward. It seems that yogurt was also mentioned by Arzak as playing an important role in the process.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Yeah, the yogurt tenderizes the chicken and adds to the succulence, which makes for such a great combination with the flash roasting.

Back when I first had tandoori chicken, for the longest time I'd thought the secret was whatever exotic spices used to produce that red color. Maybe it sounds silly, but finding out that it was only food coloring somehow clued me to the possibility that it could be something I could actually make.

Speaking of that red, here's something I've wondered about: does anyone know if the food coloring was always the same manufactured stuff, or was it at one time comprised of cockscomb flowers (mawal) which got substituted somewhere down the line for food coloring in order to cut the expense or difficulty of procurement?

Pat

(edited to add question)

Edited May 31, 2004 by Sleepy_Dragon (log)

[Episure]

Speaking of that red, here's something I've wondered about: does anyone know if the food coloring was always the same manufactured stuff, or was it at one time comprised of cockscomb flowers (mawal) which got substituted somewhere down the line for food coloring in order to cut the expense or difficulty of procurement?

Pat

(edited to add question)

You are absolutely right, Mawal is now indeed rare to come by.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Ah. Is it because it's hard to grow or otherwise overharvested, or more due to geopolitical reasons? And what about taste, if any?

Pat

[kusumlg]

For color, has anybody ever tried a piece of beet? It gives lot of red and you can keep away from food color.

Kusum

[Edward]

Here is a link to an NPR show that contains an interview with Julie Sahni about tandoori cooking. She talks about the coloring used in the past. The show also features a talk with author Sudha Koul about Kashmir. The interview with Julie Sahni is during the last 10-12 minutes. It is a real audio file.

http://www.wpr.org/book/020630a.htm

[indiachef]

Juan Mari Arzak, father of the spanish new wave of cooking, respected by everyone in the profession and three starred chef, describing tandoori as mixture of spices

How insulting can little knowledge be. Not afraid to speak up, I always suspected, Chefs with no knowledge of other cuisines come up with their own definitions of things alien

By no means Tandoori is a mix of spices.

There is a spice blend called tandoori masala, but it is called that because it is used on foods to be cooked in a tandoor. At the same time, not all foods cooked in tandoor would get tandoori masala. The real secret is in the marinade, which usually contains yogurt.

Agreed Edward, but the Tandoori masala is another hyped product on the shelf living upto its image of churning out a red -colored Chicken.

Simply defined a Tandoori chicken is Chicken cooked in a Tandoor.

Marinades can vary from a cheap bright red normally made in Indian restaurants, to a white, green or its own natural color

yoghurt is the favorite as a marinade base. But you may use any one or a combination of Sour cream, Cream cheese, Thick cream, lemon juice in addition to the spices.

Minced kebabs are generally spiced up with fresh cilantro, roasted powdered spices and green chillies, with a little bit of ginger and or garlic

Chopped onions in a minced kebab make it very succulent, Unfortunately not many tend to use it (at least in the skewered variation) for the fear of falling off.

Cashewnut paste ia another way of fortifying and enriching a marinade, though its usage outside the sub-continent for this purpose is very rare

Mustard oil is another commonly used item, though some may use good qualtiy olive oil too.

For color, has anybody ever tried a piece of beet? It gives lot of red and you can keep away from food color.

Speaking of Beet - Yes - I have used beet - surprisingly to add color to Consomme - that was only once.

Cooked beet with diced boiled potato makes a good Raita

[scott123]

A while back Bhelpuri posted this link to a fascinating article on the dangers of tikka food coloring in the UK.

While it's true that food coloring is widely used in India (particularly in sweets), their use in things like the bright red tandoori chicken is geared to Western eyes.

You might be slightly unhappy to learn that these dyes can be cumulatively posionous - warning.

[gingerly]

that was an interesting link Edward.this is the first time i've heard a reason given for the colouring of tandoori beyond the purely cosmetic.then again this is cosmetic too-sort of the painted hussy of the pit barbecue world!

[Monica Bhide]

Whats with the red color in Tandoori and other dishes -- has been discussed at length here in the India forum