How To Cook With A Tandoori Oven

Tandoori Chicken gets its name from being cooked in a tandoor, a clay oven used for high-heat grilling of meats and flatbreads. The word tandoori is the adjective meaning “pertaining to the tandoor” and is used to describe a dish cooked in a tandoor. Meats grilled in the dry and high heat of a tandoor are usually marinated, baked crisp on the outside and tender inside.

Fired by charcoal, the sides of a tandoor can reach 900 degrees, creating a sealed heat that allows breads, seafood, and meats cooked in it to retain their natural juices and flavors. Meats cooked in the tall, rather cylindrical tandoor are usually skewered and thrust into the oven’s heat, which is so intense that it cooks a chicken half in less than 5 minutes.

The tandoori oven has become very popular as it cooks very quickly without burning. The oven is often fueled with wood, coal or gas. All of these mediums produce a scorching heat which is ideal for cooking breads or meats. Preparing the tandoori oven is just as important as the cooking itself.

Start a fire with charcoal in the bottom of the oven, and when the coals are white hot you are ready to cook seafood, meats, and bread. Some popular items cooked in a tandoori oven are tandoori chicken and the popular naan bread which is customary in India and Pakistan.

A brine solution is sprinkled on the inner walls to facilitate the sticking of breads like naans to the sides. To know if the oven temperature is optimum, try and stick a naan to the sides, if it falls off, the oven is not hot enough. There is an opening at bottom for wood and air while the top is open and is used for adding wood as well as for sticking the bread.

Meats are usually cooked on long skewers that are either inserted directly into the oven or cooked over the mouth of the oven. The intense heat sears the meat and seals in juices, making it succulent and tender. The aroma of charcoal smoke, clay and marinade permeates the food, giving it the characteristic tandoori flavour.

Cooking food at a high temperature in a clay pot can be traced back over 2000 years to when the Egyptians were building the pyramids and baking bread for the workers. It is the most simple and fundamental way of cooking, using a clay pot buried in the ground, fired up with wood.

Tandoori food in many ways is the soul food of India, and is best when eaten in the traditional style, with the fingers. A cool yogurt raita sauce is nice for dipping, as is Indian kachoomar salsa. In India great pride is taken in the cooking of these very popular foods.

People prefer tandoori chicken either as a snack, or as a side dish with other traditional Indian cuisine. Tandoori chicken can also be served as an appetizer. Naan is a traditional flat bread that is cooked on the outside of the tandoor. The cooking time is even more critical for the bread as it will burn if left too long.

Tandoori meals are surprisingly very easy to prepare. They look very impressive on the table, yet they are often cooked in 1/3 of the time as traditional meals. On top of that, tandoori food is also low in calories! A healthy and delicious alternative that should not be overlooked.

When preparing food in a Tandoori oven, it is good to know you are using the best cookware. Check out Ron Levy’s website, where you can find the best Tandoor ovens that can help you with all your Indian cooking needs.