Fast Tandoori Chicken Recipe (2024)

I used bl/sl thighs. I'm a fan of Mr. Bittman's recipes, but typically find his take on recipes from the motherland too bland. I was intrigued by this method, so I doubled the paprika, garlic, and coriander, and added a cup of minced fresh cilantro, a tablespoon of cumin, half a tablespoon red pepper flakes, a dose of cayenne, salt, and substituted 6oz of plain nonfat Greek yogurt. Broiled on Hi for 6 mins per side. Tender and moist inside, crisp outside! Perfect! My new go-to method!

I made this last night, broiling the marinated chicken breasts until well browned on both sides, then baking at 350 about 15 mins 'til done. (My chicken was cold when I put it in the marinade, and needed more cooking time.) I used the time to stir fry some spinach in a small amount of oil, w/ a couple of sliced garlic cloves, a shake of crushed red pepper, and a finishing splash of red wine vinegar. The flavors of the chicken & spinach w/ the texture of the rice was delicious! Thx, Mark Bittman.

I've made this a few times now. The first time as directed and found it to be a bit bland. Then I doubled all except the yogurt and the chicken. Marinated overnight and served with a bit of peanut sauce on the side. It was great!

I cooked this last night and followed my own suggestion to cut the breasts in half horizontally, doubled the spices as others suggested. With the thinner breasts, the cooking time suggested was spot on for broiling -- no need for extra oven time and the breasts were perfectly moist. Big raves from family so thanks Mark Bittman.

Thanks. Marinating in the morning is better, this is a nice short-cut. Being a North Indian, I eat this with a bread, e.g. chapatti, paratha, naan. Finally chop a small cuke, tomato, scallion, radish, a green chili, squeeze some lime and have as a relish on the side. I use bone in breast with the skin removed. Takes a little longer, but is more flavorful and less dry. Pick off the meat and roll it up in the bread! Sweet lassi for a drink. Or, just yogurt with any fruit of season chopped into it.

Tandoori masala is available in the market by Pakistani companies . Add it to yougart and slat and red chillie pepper instead of making a masala . Marinate for 8 hours .

Broiled first side 8 minutes, second side 4 minutes. Convection baked at 350 for 15 minutes. Tender and delicious!

No. It is never safe to use raw marinade as a sauce unless it is cooked down, and even then, I personally would not do it.

This is the safe version. I add a chili pepper plus a good teaspoon of cayenne instead of paprika plus an equal amount of turmeric. To make prep quicker I throw it all in a food processor. I also find that one cup of yogurt is plenty for this amount of chicken. Just keep the spices the same so the marinade is more intense. Lemon works if you don't have limes.

Wow - this is so good! I marinated for 24 hours and this chicken was absolutely divine. I had a dinner party and literally everyone asked me what the marinade was, and how I got 'baked' chicken to be so juicy. Can't wait to make this again! I highly recommend broiling until browned, then baking around 350 or so for about 15 minutes.

I used bl/sl thighs. Doubled the paprika, garlic, and coriander, and added a cup of minced fresh cilantro, a tablespoon of cumin, half a tablespoon red pepper flakes, a dose of cayenne, salt, and substituted 6oz of plain nonfat Greek yogurt. Broiled on Hi for 6 mins per side. Tender and moist inside, crisp outside! doubled all except the yogurt and the chicken.

I Doubled the spices and added 2 tsp cumin. Very good

To be safe You could set aside some of the yogurt sauce for sauce and use the rest for marinade. No danger of raw chicken contamination

I did as others suggested and doubled all marinade ingredients except yogurt. That helped, but it needed much more salt than I put in — next time I’ll try at least a full teaspoon, maybe 2. Broiling in the oven did not go especially well. With just the amount of marinade that clung to the breasts it never really browned. After about 10-12 minutes per side there was a hint of browning around the edges, but by that time the thinner breasts were overcooked. If I try it again, I’ll grill it.

I strongly agree with others about doubling the spices in the marinade, and Browntown's suggested amounts for red pepper and cayenne really hit the spot! I'd also say to wipe off excess marinade if broiling (my sheet pan got a little soupy), as the chicken crisps up better and ends up tasting way closer to restaurant tandoori chicken. Definitely going to make again.

This was delicious. I did add a couple of extra spices (a Tandoori recipe). But, I can see where this recipe in it's simplicity is easy. I cooked it in a Ninja Foodi Grill/Griddler on Broil and on the flat griddle thinking I could add the sauce left over mid-way through. It got charred too. Next time I will make extra sauce and add it later.. The high spots charred just like chicken cooked in a Tandoor oven, but it was moist because I used the temp probe. The setting for chicken went to 170F.

I followed suggestions by others to amp up the spices but I think the recipe calls for too much yogurt. I broiled ( no browning) baked to cook the chicken through, then ran under the broiler again in search of browning. Nothing came close to “ browning” and the broiled & baked marinade turned into strange little chunks. All that said, it was flavorful and moist but I think a third of the yogurt would probably make the marinade something “ brownable” ( which is the whole point of tandoori.

This was ok, breast is not our favorite & Lyle didn’t like the sauce, too tangy. Butter chicken is better!

This was ok, we don’t like breast, Lyle didn’t like the sauce, too tangy.

We've decided to add the juice of pickled jalapeños in the marinade next time. This recipe is excellent, but there's not enough heat.

Delicious, but I agree that the "motherland" recipes in NYT do not bring enough heat or spice (I'm Latina, not Indian). Still, this is a wonderful guide.

I did the broil option and was thoroughly disappointed with this recipe. It definitely needs to be grilled, not broiled. Though I had it on the top rack, it did not brown and the marinade caked rather than charred. It looks unappetizing and tastes just “OK”. I won’t be trying it again.

I really enjoyed this, but did take the advice of most of the reviewers and doubled all the spices. I also used boneless, skinless thighs. Preheated the oven to 500 for about 15 minutes before turning on the broiler. I didn't put the pan all that close to the broiler and cooked them for about 12 minutes per side. Delicious.

This was...plain at best

I’m so glad I followed the advice on doubling the spices. I also added turmeric. Yummy!

Too bland

Very solid recipe. Marinade will holdup to 4 chicken breasts. Recommend pounding raw chicken to even thickness. Left marinade for about 6 hours. Worked beautifully on a Breville Smart Grill at 410 degrees.

I've made this twice now. Once with skinless, boneless chicken thighs and the second time with S/L B/L chicken breasts. Both times they came out moist and with plenty of flavor. I included the following spices in around these quantities and when it's done, there's definitely plenty of heat so adjust accordingly. - .5tbsp cayene- 1 tbsp cumin- .5tbsp red pepper flakes- 2 tsp turmeric- 2 tsp garam masala- 2 tsp chili powderThighs > breasts by a smidge

After reading several comments about sauce being bland I decided to up the spice amounts (see note from "Browntwon"). Hit all the spice notes we yearn for. Took 15 minutes to cook through (and breasts were not thick) and did not brown but was delicious nontheless.