Grilled Tandoori chicken in Airfryer (Ninja Foodi smart XL Grill)

Grilled Tandoori chicken in Airfryer (Ninja Foodi smart XL Grill)

Ingredients:

Chicken drumstick 

(or) chicken thighs -  2 lb

Tandoori Masala:

Peanut oil - 3 Tbsp

Ginger Garlic paste - 2 Tbsp

Curd - 2 Tbsp

Lemon - 1

Turmeric - 1 Tsp

Salt - 2 Tsp

Garam masala powder - 1 Tsp

Red chili Powder - 1 tsp

Pink salt - 1 Tsp

All purpose flour - 3 tbsp

Recipe:

Wash the chicken drumstick and pat dry using paper towel.
Make 3 to 4 slits per drumstick and keep aside.
Mix everything given for marination in a large mixing bowl.
Put the chicken pieces and mix well.
Cover and refrigerate 6 hours or keep marinated in room temperature for up to 3 hours.

In Ninja Foodi grill:

Place the grilling grate inside the grill .

Plug in the Ninja foodi grill.

Plug in the thermometer (see video above).

The display unit will light up.

Press start button on the left. 

Press 'Grill'.

Choose 'Hi' by using the left up and down arrows. This is the recommended grill plate temperature setting (as per manual for chicken).

As soon as the thermometer is plugged in, the units in the right side would come live stating, "Preset / Manual'. 

Choose Manual by touching 'Manual'.

If we are choosing 'Preset', then choose the meat variety . It will be cooked / grilled automatically.

We have chosen 'Manual' to get a special Tandoori chicken (which is not in menu).

Then using the left side arrows, set the targeted temperature to 210 deg F.

This temperature is the targeted temperature of the chicken (measured by the thermometer we inserted).

Once the preheat is done, the display will say ' ADD FOOD'.

Place 6-8 drumstick pieces or 6 chicken thighs (1 inch apart).

Insert the needle portion of thermometer to the thickest portion of the biggest piece of meat.

It should neither touch the bone nor kept on the upper layer like skin. It should be inserted as close to bone. but not touching it.

Close the hood.

Let it cook for 5-10 mins. At that time the temperature would have risen to half the targeted temperature.

Then the panel would send a visual as well as audio cue like beep sound as well as 'FLIP' in display.

Then open hood, flip the chicken. Remove the thermometer and insert it again,

Close hood and the required temperature will be achieved within 5 - 7 minutes.

Let it get the 'resting time' as per display.

Now open the hood . Take out the tandoori chicken.

Grilled Tandoori chicken is ready !

In Oven:
Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Line a cookie sheet or baking tray with aluminum foil.
Apply a tbsp oil over the foil.
Keep the marinated chicken pieces with some spacing.
Turn after 15 minutes.
Let it bake both side for 10 minutes.
Then turn the oven to broil mode and keep for 3 minutes both sides or till we get red color.

Tips:

If needed add some red food color while marination.
BBq will also yield a similar quality tandoori.
If oven is not preferred, then shallow fry the pieces with very little oil and make it red by putting over hot dosa tawa.

Serving suggestion:

Sprinkle some chaat masala before serving.
Wrap a piece of aluminum foil at one end to make it holdable:)
Serve hot as side dish with biriyani, paratha etc.
Lemon wedges, onion slices or raitha are often served along with this tandoori.
It can be reheated by Microwave or using a dosa tawa.
The left over can be made into a gravy.

Tandoori chicken

Tandoori chicken is a dish prepared in a specially designed clay oven called Tandoori oven. It can be done in a grill also.Because of its mild spice content and smoky flavor , it is loved by people all over the world.

Wikipedia tells us about the history of tandoori chicken.
Interested can click here to read the story behind tandoori chicken.

Here I am describing the procedure to make the Tandoori chicken in our household oven.

Method:

Chicken - 2 lb

Select a chicken of medium size, with tender meat. Cut it into 4 pieces. This is called butterfly cut / quarters. Wash it by applying turmeric powder.
Make uniform slits all over the chicken pieces and keep aside.

We need to marinate it twice to get a juicy Tandoori chicken.

First marination:
salt - 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder - 2 tsp.
Lime juice / vinegar - 3 tbsp

Mix everything above and apply this on the chicken and marinate for one hour.




Second marination:


Ingredients:
Thick curd - 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste (ginger - 2 inch + garlic - 6 cloves )
salt - to taste
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
(Instead we can grind 3 cloves, 2 inch cinnamon, 2 cardamom, 1/2 tsp cumin , 1/2 tsp fennel)
Lime juice / vinegar - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red food color - 4 drops
cooking oil - 3 tbsp

Mix all the items above in a broad vessel.
Keep the chicken marinated for 4 hours in room temperature or a whole night in refrigerator.

Tandoori chicken:




Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.
Place the well marinated chicken on the grill and place a tray to collect the residue at the bottom.
We can place it directly on a baking tray lined with Aluminum foil too.

Cook for 30 minutes. Flip the chicken and bake again for 10 minutes.

Now change the mode to broil and roast the chicken both sides till we get the lovely color. (Say 6 minutes each side).

Tandoori chicken is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Drizzle chaat masala and serve hot with lemon wedges, onion.
Serve as a starter or side dish.