Servings : Serves 4-5
This recipe is by far a family favourite. Takes literally NO effort to make, even a complete novice in the kitchen can make this and have rave reviews! It's also a healthy dish, in the sense that there is no frying involved and just 2 tbsp of oil is used. It's incredibly tasty and very versatile. Can work as a dinner meal or a lunch one, depending on what you serve with it. Leftovers, when shredded off the bones, work beautifully in rolls and sandwiches or in a tossed pasta salad or even as topping for a pizza…I've used leftovers in just about every other meal hahaha! I hope you all enjoy this wonderful recipe as much as I do! 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 chicken, without skin, cut into 8 or 10 pieces
- 2 tbsp. oil
- 3 tbsp. tomato paste/puree (if your tomato paste is of a good bright colored type, then first use 2 tbsp. and check how the color looks when blended with the rest of the ingredients...if you find you need more you can then add as necessary)
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 heaped tsp. garlic paste
- 2 tsp. red chilli powder
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. tandoori masala powder
- 1 mug plain yoghurt
- 2 green chillies (add more if you want it spicier)
- 1 bunch of coriander, with stems (not just the leaves)
- juice of 2 lemons (if your lemons are very juicy then use just the juice of 1)
Instructions
Clean and wash, then drain the chicken and set aside in a bowl.
Put ALL the other ingredients into a blender. Blend everything together until smooth. If you find the color is not as vibrant as you would like, add a tsp. of tandoori masala and a little more tomato paste, and blend again. Then pour over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate, let it marinate preferably for about 2-4 hours, but up to overnight is fine.
Pour everything into a glass pyrex baking dish, cover with foil. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place your baking dish on the center rack and bake for 30-35mins.
(At this point your whole house will have the most appetizing aroma. So be warned, tummies will growl!) 😀
Remove dish, open the foil and turn the pieces over. Baste them with some of the liquid, just scoop with a spoon n drizzle over the pieces to keep them moist. Replace foil and put the dish back in the oven. Bake for another 30-35mins.
Finally remove the dish from the oven and discard the foil. Turn the pieces over once more and baste again with the sauce just to retain moisture, then put the tray back into the oven (without the foil this time) for about 10 minutes or so just to give the pieces a nice color. (If you have a grill in the oven, turn it on at this point to give the chicken a fantastic finish).
Once ready, remove and cover loosely with the foil until time of serving so the heat is retained.
Serving options: I've served this dish with many different things in the past, but the best accompaniment in my opinion is fries, some sort of bread like naan or pita or parathas, a fresh salad and an icy cold drink.
Could you use grated puréed
Could you use grated puréed onion instead of chopped? I mistakenly puréed it and adds it to the marinade….I didn’t see that the recipe called for chopped.
It’s ok as all will get
It’s ok as all will get blended in the end anyways. 🙂
WoW, just made this Fauzia…
WoW, just made this Fauzia…..and it really is amazing, can’t wait to try out more of you recipes
HI can i freez left over
HI can i freez left over after baked?
Hi, yes you can.
Hi, yes you can.
yes thisss oneee issss
yes thisss oneee issss soooooooooooooooo tastyyyyyy 🙂 i tried it 🙂
hi fauzia,
hi fauzia,
I don’t have any coriander in the house, but would like to marinade the chicken tonight. Do I have to use it or can I get away with not putting in the coriander?
hi fauzia,
hi fauzia,
can i skip the coriander? I dont have any at the moment but want to marinade the chicken tonight.
Hi, it does add some depth of
Hi, it does add some depth of flavour to the chicken and have never done it without the coriander, but I guess it should be ok. 🙂
Some times when I don’t have
Some times when I don’t have fresh coriander I use Kasuri Methi (dried Methi leaves) to sprinkle as the final garnish and that too adds a nice flavor
Awesome recipe Fauzia!!! made
Awesome recipe Fauzia!!! made it many times and always turns out delicious… your recipes have saved my day often 🙂 may you be rewarded manifold for your efforts!
AA dear Fauzia i made it
AA dear Fauzia i made it today it tasted nice but im confused because the the marinade didnt quite thicken and it wasnt of the consistency of a thick sauce i gave it even more time without the foil but still the sauce didnt thicken rather it was on the watery side 🙁 i dont know why it was so…
It could be one of two
It could be one of two reasons, either the yoghurt was not a thick one, it might have been on the watery side OR the oven was not hot enough when you first put your dish into it. Did you preheat the oven? What was the consistency of the yoghurt?
Hi instead of baking can we
Hi instead of baking can we fry this?
It is too saucy to fry. You
It is too saucy to fry. You can cook it in a pan on the stove top.
hi fauzia,
hi fauzia,
I tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out really great. Literally till the end my husband was licking his finger. I made this with the boneless chicken and its taste was great. I would really want to thank you for coming up with such yumilicious recipes every now and then! I wonder why didn’t I find you before 🙂 many thanks for the awesome work. I wish you all the happiness of life and may ALLAH accept all your prayers.
salaam sister.i want to make
salaam sister.i want to make this dish,i have a family of 10 & the chicken I buy is a baby chicken,if u could kindly advice me how much chicken I will need in weight.jazahkallah.
salaam sister ,so sorry for
salaam sister ,so sorry for the question earlier,had a problem with the web so was unable to read how much 1 chicken recipe serves.all sorted.
I hava an OTG n Microwave
I hava an OTG n Microwave both… Please tell me which is better to make this… N can i use the borosil dish in my OTG… Please guide…
Hi, I never use the microwave
Hi, I never use the microwave for cooking so am not sure how the time and temp will vary using one.
Hi fauzia, if I am baking
Hi fauzia, if I am baking with half of the ingredients ie , 4 or 5 pieces of chicken and rest its half , what will be the time required for baking both sides…plz can u help??
Hi, time of baking remains
Hi, time of baking remains the same no matter how much chicken you are cooking. 🙂
Hello
Hello
Could I substitute buttermilk for the plain yoghurt?
Hi, am not sure if the
Hi, am not sure if the results will be the same, yoghurt is normally much thicker than buttermilk. Best to stick with yoghurt for this recipe.
Hi fauzia, can we make dis
Hi fauzia, can we make dis receipe n a stove top??? If yes, wat r the changes to be followed…plz help…
Hi, yes you can. 🙂
Hi, yes you can. 🙂
Hi. Two questions:
Hi. Two questions:
1) How much exactly is a “mug” of yoghurt? Do you mean 1 cup?
2) I don’t know what red onions are. Upon googling pics, I found they are the regular onions that I use. So any onions would do, yeah?
Hi, a mug is bigger than a
Hi, a mug is bigger than a cup. It is about 1 and a half cups. There are red onions and white onions (amongst many other onions). If red are what you normally use then go with that.
Hi, I’m new to cooking. Can u
Hi, I’m new to cooking. Can u tell me if i need to turn the on upper furnace of oven for baking chicken or the lower?
Thanks
Hi, my oven does not have
Hi, my oven does not have separate settings for top and bottom grill so am not very sure how those work. Maybe try turning on the bottom first and then midway the top so the bake is even but keep an eye throughout until you get a hang of how your oven works.
Made this chicken today,
Made this chicken today, turned out really good, really tasty.Thank
I made it today and it turned
I made it today and it turned out to be a yellow color like yellow kari (the Pakistani dish with pakoras). Not only that, it was extremely liquidy from the beginning, when I blended the ingredients. Basically, it looked nothing like your pictures even though I followed all your steps 🙁 Any idea what I could have done wrong?
For the colour, did you use
For the colour, did you use tomato paste as well as the tandoori masala and red chilli powder? With all these, it is strange that the colour would be anything but a vivid orange red. As for the liquidy consistency, that is to do with the yoghurt used. If you use a very good thick fresh yoghurt, it would not be watery. Try again using a thicker yoghurt, or just drain the yoghurt you use to ensure it is thick.