00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Tailgate Tandoori Chicken.
00:09That's right, this Indian-spiced, party-friendly, sheet pan chicken recipe is going to be a huge hit,
00:16whether it's enjoyed in an actual football stadium parking lot, or where I do most of my tailgating, on the couch.
00:23And to get started, we'll begin our marinade by adding about a teaspoon or so of minced ginger to a mixing bowl,
00:28along with some lemon juice and some tomato paste.
00:32And what we're going to do is give that a quick mix,
00:34and then let it sit for about 5 or 10 minutes while we grab all the rest of the ingredients.
00:39And during that time, the acidity is going to neutralize some of the enzymes in the ginger,
00:43which, depending on the amount, can cause kind of a weird texture in the chicken.
00:47And by the way, you can also do the same thing by heating the ginger, but that can affect the taste,
00:52so I do prefer this method.
00:54But anyway, once that's done its thing for about 10 minutes,
00:57we will continue on with a whole bunch of finely minced or crushed garlic,
01:01followed by some smoked paprika.
01:03And yes, regular paprika will work.
01:06We will also do some ground cumin,
01:09some ground coriander,
01:11some cayenne,
01:13some garam masala,
01:15some turmeric,
01:16some freshly ground black pepper,
01:19a generous amount of salt, of course,
01:21as well as a little touch of sugar.
01:23We will also want a small splash of vegetable oil.
01:27And then last but not least,
01:29the key ingredient in any tandoori marinade,
01:31which would be some plain, full-fat, Greek-style yogurt.
01:36And once we have everything in there,
01:37we will take our whisk,
01:39and we will whisk,
01:40until everything is beautifully combined,
01:43at which point we'll set that aside,
01:44and we'll move on to cut up our chicken.
01:47And for that,
01:48I'm going to be using some boneless, skinless chicken thighs,
01:50which I think we should cut into three pieces.
01:53And the first cut I like to make is in that thinnest part of the thigh,
01:56where you can see there's kind of a natural separation
01:58between the flatter, thinner part of the thigh,
02:00and the fatter, thicker end.
02:03And once we cut that first piece,
02:04we'll turn the other bigger piece,
02:06and we'll cut that in half,
02:08to create three nicely shaped,
02:10relatively uniformly sized chunks.
02:13And yes, if your thighs are giant,
02:14you could cut these into four pieces.
02:16Or if they're a lot smaller,
02:18you could just cut them in half.
02:19But in any event,
02:20we'll do that to two and a half pounds of chicken thigh,
02:23at which point we'll transfer those into our marinade.
02:26And we will take a spatula and mix that very, very thoroughly.
02:30But as you may know,
02:31chicken thighs are famous for two things,
02:33their nooks and their crannies.
02:35So we want to mix this very thoughtfully,
02:37to make sure every bit of surface area is coated.
02:41And once that's been accomplished,
02:42we will wrap this up,
02:44and we'll let it marinate in the fridge
02:45for about 30 to 60 minutes.
02:48During which time,
02:49I'm going to prep an optional component,
02:51which is going to be some peeled and sliced sweet potatoes,
02:54that we will toss with some freshly squeezed lime juice.
02:57And once coated,
02:58we will lay those slices down
03:00on some buttered parchment paper.
03:03And after spacing those out nice and evenly,
03:05we will season those generously with some salt.
03:09And while this step is optional,
03:10I think these sweet starchy potatoes
03:12are the perfect pairing for chicken tandoori.
03:15And what we'll do once seasoned
03:16is pop those into a 400 degree oven
03:19for about 12 to 15 minutes,
03:21or until they're just barely starting to get tender,
03:24which is impossible to tell just by looking at them.
03:26Unless, of course, that's your superpower.
03:30In which case,
03:30I probably wouldn't tell anyone about that.
03:33But for the rest of us,
03:34we'll test with the tip of a knife,
03:35which should slide in fairly easily.
03:38And that's it.
03:38We now have a delicious base
03:40on top of which to place our chicken,
03:42which we will pull out of our marinade
03:44and space as evenly as possible.
03:47And not just for appearances.
03:49That's also an important thing
03:50if we want it to cook evenly.
03:52Oh, and anytime we work with chicken thighs,
03:54you're always going to get
03:55a few small pieces of meat that break off,
03:57which is fine.
03:59Just go ahead and stick those anywhere.
04:01Oh, and it's not that big of a deal,
04:03but generally I like the smooth side
04:04of the chicken thigh facing up,
04:06since that's just going to look better
04:07and probably brown up better.
04:10And that's it.
04:10Once our chicken's been placed on,
04:12we will take some sliced onions and peppers
04:14and we will place those here and there
04:16around the pan,
04:18pretty much in any spot,
04:19as long as it's not on top of the chicken.
04:22Okay, we're about to put this
04:23in a very hot oven
04:24and we want the surface of that chicken
04:26to get the maximum amount of heat.
04:29So during this step,
04:30we want to be careful not to cover it up.
04:33And besides the red onion,
04:34I'm using a sweet red bell pepper,
04:36as well as a mild green Fresno chili pepper.
04:39But if you want,
04:39you could definitely sneak in
04:40some hot peppers here.
04:42I mean, you are after all the Peter Lorre
04:44of this tailgate tandoori.
04:46So you go ahead and use whatever you want.
04:49But no matter what we use,
04:51once that's been placed over,
04:52we will finish this up
04:53by drizzling our chicken chunks
04:55with some melted butter
04:56in more than just a little bit.
04:59And besides, hopefully giving our chicken
05:01a little bit of color as it bakes,
05:02that butter's going to mingle with
05:04and amplify all those amazing spicy flavors.
05:06And I really do think
05:08it's one of the keys here,
05:09so don't be shy.
05:11And that's it.
05:12This is now ready to transfer
05:13into an extremely hot,
05:15500 degree oven,
05:17or as hot as your oven will go,
05:19for about 30 to 35 minutes,
05:21or until our chicken safely cooked through,
05:23and hopefully looks like this.
05:26And then I'm going to let you decide
05:27on how to serve this
05:28and what to garnish with.
05:29But at the very least,
05:31I think we should scatter over
05:32some freshly chopped cilantro,
05:34or coriander,
05:36as it's called in most places.
05:38And I'm going to show you
05:38how I really think
05:39you should eat this in a minute.
05:41But for now,
05:41I'm going to grab a fork and knife
05:43and go in for the official taste
05:45right on the pan.
05:47And that, my friends,
05:48is some incredibly flavorful,
05:50tender and juicy chicken,
05:51which would be great by itself.
05:54But that lime-scented sweet potato below
05:56is soaked in some of that chicken fat
05:58and a lot of those flavorful juices.
06:01And it turned something already very good
06:03into something even more special.
06:06And this really is so delicious,
06:07you don't need much more.
06:09Although maybe some folks
06:10would enjoy some fresh lime wedges.
06:12Or, of course,
06:13any of your favorite Indian chutneys.
06:15Oh, and I didn't want to talk about this,
06:17but I guess I have to.
06:19Yes, technically you can do this
06:20with chicken breast,
06:21but the thighs just work out so much better
06:24and are so much more forgiving.
06:26Especially if you're not going to be able
06:27to serve this hot
06:28and you have to re-warm it at the tailgate.
06:31Right, the thighs will still be amazing like that.
06:33Whereas the breast meat tends to dry out
06:35once reheated.
06:36So please use the thighs if you can.
06:39And while that really was incredibly
06:40and plain right off the pan,
06:42how I really think you should serve this
06:44is stuffed in your standard hot dog bun,
06:47topped with some kind of yogurt sauce.
06:50All right, this one just had a little bit
06:51of lemon and garlic in it.
06:53And we will top that
06:54with a little scattering of cilantro
06:55before we grab a hold and bite in.
06:59And just imagine those feelings of superiority
07:01and culinary dominance you're going to feel
07:04in the parking lot
07:04as you enjoy these next to other tailgaters,
07:08enjoying plain old boring hot dogs in their buns.
07:11Oh yeah, you're going to be getting some envious looks.
07:14So maybe make a little bit extra.
07:16And of course you can do the same thing
07:18by wrapping this in naan bread.
07:20But if you've ever been to an actual tailgate party,
07:23for whatever reason,
07:24there's always way too many hot dog buns.
07:27But whether you do wrap yours in naan,
07:29or you serve it on a hot dog bun like Chef John,
07:32this fast, beautiful, and easy chicken tandoori
07:35will be the talk of the parking lot
07:37or the couch.
07:38Which is why I really do hope
07:40you give it a try soon.
07:42So please follow the links below
07:43for the ingredient amounts,
07:45a printable written recipe,
07:47and much more info as usual.
07:48And as always, enjoy.
Comments