Homemade Tandoor Chicken, Pilau Rice & Raita

I love Indian food. It is everything I want in a meal: exotic, filling and hearty. But it can be calorific, creamy and leave you unable to move due to food triplets. I was watching The Good Cook the other day and tandoori drumsticks were made and it looked so, so amazing, healthy and simple to make that I decided to give them a go myself. I am so glad I did!

I never follow recipes exactly, as I tend to memorise the ingredients and whack them in rough quantities and alter to taste. This is roughly what I did though.

For the chicken:

Chicken drumsticks (3 per person)
Plain yoghurt (about 2/3 pot)
Tandoori spice mix (about 3 tablespoons)
Pinch of salt
Tablespoon lemon juice

For the raita:

Natural yoghurt (1/4 pot)
Salt (1/4 teaspoon)
Sugar (1/4 teaspoon)
Cayenne pepper/ chilli powder (1/2 teaspoon) or deseeded pepper
Mint sauce (2 teaspoons) or a few mint leaves

For the rice:

400g basmati rice (rinsed thoroughly)
Cinnamon stick
A few cloves
Pinch of salt & pepper
Tumeric (1 teaspoon)
2 bay leaf
Large onion
Garlic clove
Butter (tablespoon)
1 litre of chicken stock

The day before cooking, mix all the ingredients for the chicken and massage it in to the skin. Leave to marinade for 24 hours. This is honestly so worth it, as it means the chicken meat tastes tandoori and lovely!

On the day:

Pop the chicken in the oven on 250 degrees, then finely chop the onion and garlic. Leave for five to ten minutes before melting the butter in a sauce pan and sauteing the garlic and onion for about five minutes. Add in all the ingredients except rice and saute for another minute before adding the rice. Make sure the rice is completely coated in the buttery onion mix, before adding the stock. Pop a lid on and leave to simmer for 25 – 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

20 minutes after putting the chicken in, it should be starting to crisp up. Turn it over and pop on to grill (on max) for 10 minutes on each side. While you’re waiting for everything, mix up all the raita ingredients.

When the rice has absorbed all the water it is ready. If this is before the chicken, just turn off the heat and leave the lid on. The chicken is ready when the juice runs clear: the meat will look pinker than usual but this is the tandoori spices so don’t worry! If the chicken is charred and has black bits, this is good so don’t worry

We had ours with a bit of mango chutney and naan bread. It was amazing! And I didn’t feel grotesquely full afterwards, just satisfied. All my family loved this as well so it is family friendly

Will you be trying this? Or have you got a go to Indian recipe?

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