Tandoori Cooking

[Suvir Saran]

Tandoori Cooking

The Tandoor has been known to the Indian region for many thousands of years. It is as old as its culture. A cylindrical clay oven that heats upto a very high temperature, it cooks unlike any other oven. The coal embers provide for a flavor that is at once very tasty and scrumtious.

The meats and vegetables cooked in the tandoor are different from other grilled stuff in their recipes. Tandoori foods are very simple to prepare and very light. Attention is pais most to the marination and the cuts of meats.

Even though the tandoor has been used in India for centuries, it was only afer the partition of India and it's getting freedom that one has seen a reintroduction of tandoori foods. Today foods cooked in the tandoor are the main dishes on most Indian restaurants.

The famous Indian flat breads are prepared in this clay oven. The naans, stuffed and layered and plan parathas, kulchas and rotis are made in minutes in the tandoor.

Tandoori chicken, that famous rose colored grilled chicken cooks into a flavorful, crunchy and moist textured meat in just some quick minutes. The secret to this dish as also to many other tandoori recipes is mostly in the marination.

Grilled shrimp, succulent lamb chops, seekh kababs, malai kababs and slamon tikkas are some of the other famous dishes.

[ShawtyCat]

Just curious....but can you buy a tandoor oven in the US??

[Suvir Saran]

I am told one can. A friend imported mine for me. Maybe a google search can find you the answer.

ANd I will ask around.

[spqr]

I too would like to know if/where one can buy a tandor in the US.

[vivin]

Or you could build one. If anyone is interested, I can get a recipe from a friend who built one (successfully, without setting anything on fire).

vivin

[Schielke]

How much kitchen space would one take up? Or shoud it be an outdoor thing?

Ben

[BettyK]

Here's a link to The Tandoor Site

Please report back when you're done.(with pictures of course) :

[Simon Majumdar]

The best tip someone ever gave me for tandoori cooking ( not in a tandoor as I have no room in my appt, but coked under a hot grill ) was the marinading of the meat/fish.

When I make chicken/lamb Chops/large prawns etc, I use a mixture of

Fresh ginger

Fresh chillies

Fresh garlic

Ground Cumin

Ground Turmeric

Ground Fenugreek

Ground Chilli powder

Sugar

Juice of two limes

I mix these with the meat/prawns/fish and then cover with plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for at least two hours but better overnight.

Then add the yoghurt and mix again, place back in the firdge for a further two hours.

Then grill under a very hot oven

Suvir posted a fabulous salad recipe of tomatoes, cucumber, red onions and fresh corriander with a dressing of spices fried in oil and mixed with lime juice which I now serve with this. Fresh, zingy and delicious

S

[Suvir Saran]

Tandoori Fish

3 to 3.5 pounds whole Pomfret, or any fish steak of your choice

1/2 cup yogurt, hung to drain whey

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 tablespoon ginger paste

1 tablespoon garlic paste

1 tablespoon besan (chickpea flour)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

2 teaspoons cumin powder

1 teaspoon tumeric

2 tablespoons lemon juice

salt to taste

Oil or melted butter to brush with

1. Preheat oven to 350?F.

2. Clean fish and make deep cuts on both sides.

3. Mix hung yogurt with all ingredients other than the oil. Mix well to ensure no lumps remain in the marinade.

4. Cover the fish in this marinade making sure it has a nice layer all ocer. Set aside for at least 2 hours. 4-6 hours is preferable.

5. Cook in tandoor for close to 5 minutes or in the oven for 10 minutes.

6. Remove from oven, hang skewers in a platter, so as to let themoisture drip. Let the fish cool and rest for 15minutes. Baste the cool fish with the oil or butter and cook for another 5 minutes.

7. Serve hot with yogurt-mint chutney.

[AdamLawrence]

Suvir et al

Would a Mexican chiminea (which are becoming very popular in the UK - now available at practically every big garden centre) work as a reasonable substitute for a tandoor?

Chiminea

cheers

Adam

[Suvir Saran]

Suvir et al

Would a Mexican chiminea (which are becoming very popular in the UK - now available at practically every big garden centre) work as a reasonable substitute for a tandoor?

Chiminea

cheers

Adam

Adam,

Thanks for bringing these to our attention. I have never used one. Always been very curious. I too would like to know from the gang here if they have any experience with them.

[Simon Majumdar]

I have never used a chiminea but I do find that some meats can be tandoored in the oven quite well by using a Chicken Brick ( an earthenware pot with a tight fitting lid )

These were a staple of 70's households and, if you can find one, they work really well for small amounts

S