Tandoori Chicken, Reworked (Cook's Illustrated Style)

Is it safe to come out, now that the holidays are over?  Don't get me wrong-- I'm not a Grinch during the month of December.  This Christmas, however, will go down in my personal history as the day that my appetite disappeared for two weeks.  The sight or thought of food did absolutely nothing for me, can you believe it?! Apparently a new medicine that my doctor prescribed decided to kick in on Christmas Eve.  My husband watched, with a perplexed look, as I two two bites of my slow-roasted prime rib.  The creamed spinach and special potatoes amounted to about 1 teaspoon of each.   I didn't even photograph the finished meal because I felt queasy and downright miserable. My appetite is slowly returning, and I've lost 12 pounds since December 1st. It's a good thing, but I also know it's important that I eat-- so I have to psyche myself into eating.  (I'll explain more at the bottom of this post about my newly diagnosed Diabetes to spare those of you who want to pass on my stories of injecting a new drug and my progress.)

I made this dish in early December, while I had already begun my pre-holiday goal of eating healthier and dropping some pounds. Time, and my appetite setback,  got in the way of posting this. Now that I can enjoy looking at food again, I'm happy to share this recipe with you.  While organizing the photos, I could recall how much I loved the flavor of this dish.    I had bookmarked this Cook's Illustrated recipe several months ago and then I stumbled across it again.  Per Cook's Illustrated, "authentic versions call for a 24-hour marinade and a tandoor, a traditional beehive-shaped clay oven—requirements that keep the dish mainly in the realm of restaurants." In the method of CI that I love so much, they set out to reinvent this Indian classic into a recipe that could be made year-round in the oven.  This is how they did it:

We begin with 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts (breasts, thighs, and drumsticks, or a mix, with breasts cut in half), trimmed of excess fat and skin removed.

Garam Masala is a key component for this recipe.  I'm still learning about Indian cooking, so it wasn't until I made Cook's Illustrated's Tikka Masala dish, I wasn't familiar with garam masala.  According to CI, "Though there are countless variations of garam masala, the warm flavors (garam means “warm” or “hot” and masala means “spice blend”) dominating this Indian spice blend are consistent: black pepper, dried chiles, cinnamon, cardamom, and coriander are staples, while cloves, cumin, fennel, mace, and nutmeg frequently turn up as supporting players."  Finding this spice blend has become much easier. I found mine at my local supermarket.

You need yogurt, to marinate the chicken with.  I used Greek Non-Fat yogurt, because I love how thick and rich it is.

You also need chili powder and cumin...

There's a little more prep work to go-- you need the juice of two limes, freshly minced garlic and ginger...

Using sharp knife, lightly score skinned side of each piece of chicken, making 2 or 3 shallow cuts about 1 inch apart and about 1/8 inch deep; transfer to bowl. The prep work took me about 30 minutes, between washing my hands a lot while taking photos.  Ready?

We're going to "bloom" the spices and reserve half as a rub, and the other half to flavor the yogurt that we'll marinate the chicken with.  Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

 The aroma is packed with so much flavor!  We're just getting started...

Transfer half of garlic-spice mixture to medium bowl; stir in yogurt and 2 tablespoons lime juice and set aside.
In large bowl, combine remaining garlic-spice mixture, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and salt.  I didn't photograph the next step of using my hands to gently massage salt-spice mixture into chicken until all pieces are evenly coated; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.(It's a bit messy and I didn't want to get my camera all dirty.) Pour yogurt mixture over chicken and toss until chicken is evenly coated with thick layer.

 Next, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat oven to 325 degrees.

Arrange chicken pieces, scored-side down, on wire rack set in foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan.
Discard excess yogurt mixture.

Bake chicken until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 125 degrees for breasts and 130 for legs and thighs, 15 to 25 minutes. (Smaller pieces may cook faster than larger pieces.
Transfer chicken pieces to plate as they reach correct temperature.) After removing chicken from oven, turn oven to broil and heat 10 minutes.

The broiler is ready...

Once broiler is heated, flip chicken pieces over and broil until chicken is lightly charred in spots and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165 degrees for breasts and 175 for legs and thighs, 8 to 15 minutes.

The method of broiling the chicken mimics the way that juices fall, in a tandoor oven,  on the coals along with rendered fat, creating smoke that flavors the food.

I also created a brown basmatic rice with garam masala and some other delicious aromatics.

My husband loves Indian food.  He was both surprised and thrilled to see his "Foodiewife" making a dish I'm really not familiar with.  I admit, I was looking forward to tasting this dinner.

VERDICT:  When my husband really likes the flavor of something, he let's out a slow moan.  I smiled, as he savored the flavor of this dish and he complimented me over and over again.  My husband can handle really spicy food much better than I can.  On a scale of 1-5, the heat of this dish is about a 2.5.  If you love to breathe fire, you might want to kick up the spice heat. To me, it was perfect.  This is not boring chicken! It was tender, flavorful and very healthy.  I loved this dish so much, that I'm going to pay closer attention to learning how to make more Indian dishes. I am really bonding with the traditional Indian spice combination, and I look forward to adding more spices to my pantry. Cook's Illustrated did it again-- they figured out how to make juicy, lightly charred, well-seasoned meat with just the right degree of tenderness. A printable recipe card is at the very bottom of this post.

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