You may or may not know that I love to cook when I have the time.  My Mom has taught me so many amazing recipes and all the credit goes to her!  Love you Mom!

Recently I tweeted that I was cooking my Mom’s Tandoori Chicken.  I had a huge response to post the recipe… so here it is!

Tandoori Chicken is super easy to make, healthy (especially if you use skinless, boneless, organic chicken thighs like I do) and always a hit when you have people over.  If you have the time, try and visit a local Indian spice shop to stock up on all the essential spices for this dish.

Enjoy… and let me know how your version turns out.  Remember you can always add a little more spice here and there to change it up.  My Mom does that all the time.  ;-)

Makes 1 Kg. (about 2.2 lbs) of chicken

SPICE MIXTURE:

2 Tbs. masala ( I prefer to use tandoori masala)

about 1 Tbs. cumin

about 1 Tbs. coriander

about 1/2 tsp. chili powder (in a pinch, cayenne or dried chillies will do). Careful, you don’t want the chicken too hot.)

1 tsp. turmeric

1 Tbs. crushed garlic

1 Tbs. crushed ginger

2 tbs. veg. oil

1 -2 tsp. garam masala (optional)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1.5  cups plain yogurt

In a large sealable plastic bag, mix all the spices, ginger, garlic, oil and lemon juice to a paste.  Then, add yogurt. If the mixture looks dry, add more yogurt.  Finally, add the chicken and mix well.  Marinade overnight, or at least 18 hours (the chicken in its marinade can be frozen. Defrost in the fridge).  Remove chicken from the marinade (discard the marinade) Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or grill.