Chicken Tikka

Jamie and I had some incredible tandoori chicken in Udaipur and even though we've only been back in the states since Saturday, we're both already craving more Indian food. Chicken Tikka/Tandoori Chicken is a simple weeknight meal and is SO tasty! The chicken is tender and flavorful, and cooks in 25 minutes and it's a nice cheap dinner if you buy chicken legs. If we were serving more people, I would buy a whole chicken and cut it into pieces and remove the skin. One secret is cutting little slashes in the chicken and rubbing the mixture in there. If you don't have tandoori spice, it's kind of a mix of chili powder, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, ginger etc. Mmm. Jamie said he never wants to eat any other chicken every again, so needless to say, it was a hit! I served it with Green Bean Thoren, courtesy of Nimmy.

Ingredients:
2 chicken legs, skin removed but bone in
1/2 tbsp tandoori spice powder
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
Remove the skin from the chicken legs and cut diagonal slashes in the chicken about 1/4" deep.

In a large plastic bag, mix yogurt, spice, garlic, salt, and vegetable oil. Drop the chicken in and rub so it's totally covered. Marinate in the fridge for 8-12 hours. (Great to do before work.)

Remove chicken from the bag and shake off excess marinade (but you still want it coated with the mixture). Preheat oven to 500. Put the chicken on cookie sheet lined with lightly greased tin foil and roast for 25-30 minutes until charred in some spots and cooked through. Serve with raita (mix of yogurt, diced red onion, diced cucumber, and diced tomato), sliced red onion, and a slice of lemon or lime. I also served it with some garlic naan I found in the freezer aisle (Tandoori Chef, pretty good!) and some mint-cilantro chutney-they serve that with everything in India. I also did a little green bean thoren as a side.