Whole Roasted Tandoori Chicken
Author: 
Recipe type: Main, Entree
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
This whole roasted chicken spiced liberally with Indian tandoori masala turns out juicy, succulent and absolutely delicious. An entree worthy of your Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering.
You will need:
  • Whole chicken - 3.5 - 4 lbs
First marinade,
  • Lemon juice - 2 tbsp, freshly squeezed
  • Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
  • Kashmiri red chili powder - 2 tsp
  • Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsp
  • Salt - ½ tsp
Second marinade,
  • Thick yogurt - ½ cup
  • Oil - ¼ cup (see Notes)
  • Red chili powder - 1-2 tbsp (as per heat desired)
  • Cumin powder - 1 tsp
  • Garam masala powder - 1 tbsp
  • Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tbsp
  • Mint leaves - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
  • Salt - 1 tsp (or to taste)
  • Red or orange food color - 1-2 drops, optional
For roasting,
  • Red onion - 1, cut into thick rounds
  • Potato - 1 large, diced
  • Lemon - 1, quartered
  • Garlic - 5-6 cloves, crushed
  • Butter - 2 tbsp, melted
For serving,
  • Red onion - chopped or thinly sliced
  • Lemon wedges
  • Cilantro leaves
  • Mint yogurt sauce (see Notes for quick recipe)
  • Naan breads, rice, etc
How to:
  1. Remove innards from the chicken's body cavity. Use it in another recipe or discard. Wash chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Make tiny score marks all over the chicken with the tip of your knife. This is done to allow the spices to permeate the meat better.
  2. Mix the first marinade ingredients and apply all over the chicken. Place chicken in a large covered bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or even overnight.
  3. Mix the second marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  4. Dump the marinade over the chicken. Use your fingers to evenly apply this marinade all over the chicken and inside the cavity too. Gently lift the skin at the edges and use your fingers to smear this marinade liberally under the skin as well. Massage and get the marinade all over that bird!
  5. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Do not skip this step.
  6. Remove chicken from refrigerator 30-45 minutes before roasting so that it has time to get to room temperature.
  7. Pre-heat oven to 400 deg.F. Line a large baking pan with foil or parchment paper.
  8. Line the pan with thick-cut onion rings and diced potatoes. Pour a bit of the marinade that the chicken is resting in over the potatoes.
  9. Stuff the chicken cavity with lemon, garlic and any extra red onion slices. Place the chicken breast-side down in the pan and brush the melted butter on top.
  10. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven and gently turn the chicken over so that the breast-side is now facing upwards. Baste with the juices collected at the bottom of the pan.
  11. Return to oven and bake for 1 hour, basting with pan juices every 20 minutes. Bake chicken till internal temperature reads 165 deg.F or till juices run clear when poked near the thigh bone. Total bake time will be roughly 20 minutes per pound of chicken.
  12. Turn oven to broil setting and broil the chicken for 1-2 minutes till skin is lightly charred.
  13. Remove from oven and rest the chicken for at least 30 minutes before carving.
  14. Serve with chopped red onions, lemon wedges, cilantro leaves, mint-yogurt sauce, pan-roasted potatoes and naan breads or rice.
Notes:
1. Traditionally, mustard oil is heated till smoking hot and cooled before using in the marinade. If you do not have it or don't like to use it, simply use any neutral oil as I've done in this recipe.
2. Mint yogurt sauce: Blend together ½ cup mint leaves in 1 cup of thick yogurt. Add salt to taste. If you do not have mint leaves, use cilantro.
3. Please note that the prep time doesn't reflect the inactive marination times.
Recipe by At The Corner of Happy And Harried at https://www.happyandharried.com/2016/12/05/whole-roasted-tandoori-chicken/