Indian Barbecue and Grilling

Tandoor cooking, two-stage marinades and charred edges.

Tandoori Chicken Without a Tandoor

Two marinades, not one. The first is salt, lemon and chilli cutting into scored meat; the second is yoghurt and spice clinging to the surface. That order is the whole technique.

35 min · serves 4

The tandoor runs at 400°C or more with meat on vertical skewers and bread slapped onto the clay wall. Domestic kamados get closer to it than kettles do, because they hold that heat with the lid down.

The defining technique is the two-stage marinade: a short sharp salt, lemon and chilli stage that seasons through deep scores in the meat, then a thick yoghurt and spice stage that clings and chars. Combining them into one gives you a thin marinade that does neither job.

At a glance

Recipe	Method	Grill temp	Cook time	Pull at
Tandoori Chicken Without a Tandoor	Two-zone cooking	230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F)	35 min	80°C (175°F)

Techniques used

Two-zone cooking. Coals banked to one side: a searing zone and a gentle zone in one grill. The single most useful technique in charcoal cooking.

Cookers these suit

Drum smokers. Kamado grills. Kettle grills. Tandoor ovens.