Whole Roasted Tandoori Chicken


4.1 of 5 (10)
member ratings
Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 4
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 273.2
  • Total Fat: 5.8 g
  • Cholesterol: 137.5 mg
  • Sodium: 368.6 mg
  • Total Carbs: 5.2 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 0.7 g
  • Protein: 47.7 g

View full nutritional breakdown of Whole Roasted Tandoori Chicken calories by ingredient


Introduction

I love tandoori chicken, so the last time I had a whole chicken, I decided to just roast the WHOLE thing in a tandoori marinade. Note that the cayennne, hot peppers and black pepper are optional - use one or more as desired.

The recipe here uses a skinless chicken - the fat and calories will be MUCH higher if you leave the skin on.

The foil is essential if you don't want a dried-out chicken - remember that this is skinless chicken!

Each serving here is the traditional quarter chicken (breast and wing, or leg and thigh) - probably enough for 2 individual 3-oz servings, so keep that in mind when you look at the nutrition information. :)

You can use the same marinade and just coat 4 chicken breasts or 4 leg-and-thigh pieces instead, if you prefer a quicker, less messy preparation.

Enjoy!
I love tandoori chicken, so the last time I had a whole chicken, I decided to just roast the WHOLE thing in a tandoori marinade. Note that the cayennne, hot peppers and black pepper are optional - use one or more as desired.

The recipe here uses a skinless chicken - the fat and calories will be MUCH higher if you leave the skin on.

The foil is essential if you don't want a dried-out chicken - remember that this is skinless chicken!

Each serving here is the traditional quarter chicken (breast and wing, or leg and thigh) - probably enough for 2 individual 3-oz servings, so keep that in mind when you look at the nutrition information. :)

You can use the same marinade and just coat 4 chicken breasts or 4 leg-and-thigh pieces instead, if you prefer a quicker, less messy preparation.

Enjoy!

Number of Servings: 4

Ingredients

    - 1 whole roasting chicken, skin and visible fat removed (I used 2 chicken breasts and two chicken legs to calculate the nutritional value here)
    - Juice of 1 lime
    - 1/3 teaspoon sea salt
    - 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt (NOT vanilla!)
    - 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
    - 2 teaspoons cumin seed (powdered)
    - 2 teaspoons coriander seed (powdered)
    - Optional: cayenne or black pepper or minced hot peppers to taste (I used 2 hot Thai chilies and 1 tsp of cayenne)
    - 3 cloves garlic, minced
    - 1 inch fresh ginger, minced
    - 2 drops red food dye (optional)

    Optional: Sliced onions (raw or sauteed), fresh coriander leaves, fresh green chilies and chopped tomatoes for garnish, if desired.

Directions

Remove the skin from your chicken. It's easier if you quarter the chicken first, of course, but do-able by cutting deep slashes into the fleshy parts and pulling off the skin and fat, just leaving the whole chicken. It's messy and time-consuming to do at home - ask your butcher to skin it for you if possible!

Cut several deep slashes into the fleshy parts of the chicken.

Rub all over with the lime juice, making sure to rub into the slashes as well. Then rub with just a little seasalt, again, getting it into the gashes. Let the chicken sit for 20 minutes or so, while you prepare the marinade.

For the marinade, beat the yogurt with a fork until it's silky, add the oil (if you're using any), then stir in all the dry, powdered spices. If you want RED chicken, add a few drops of red food colouring (I prefer not, so my tandoori chicken comes out yellowish-browish-reddish, depending on which spice I put more of).

Stir in the minced ginger, minced garlic and minced hot peppers (if you're using them).

Lay the chicken on a large piece of aluminum foil, then slather well with the marinade. Make sure you get plenty of marinade in the slashes, so the chicken is well-flavoured throughout.

Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes, but overnight in the refrigerator is best.

Wrap the foil up around the chicken and set in an oven pre-heated to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook about 15 minutes per pound of chicken (sounds like a lot, but remember the foil!). In the last ten minutes of cooking, open up the foil so the chicken gets a little drier - some may prefer the moistness of just leaving it foiled all the way till done.

To serve up for a party, put the chicken on a plate and surround it with slices of onions, tomatoes and green chilies, all sprinkled with a bit of lime juice, some salt and a bit of powdered cumin, then sprinkle a few fresh coriander leaves over the lot.

Serve hot with steaming hot rice or fresh-baked naan, yogurt-cucumber raita, and maybe some palak paneer.

This is also great in cold sandwiches the next day, preferably pita wraps with a bit of yogurt sauce drizzled over top and some onions and tomatoes for added zing.

Note: You can also marinate the chicken and store it, cut up, in ziploc bags in the freezer ... just pull out a bag and grill for a fast meal on a busy day. Or, cook the whole thing, then portion it out and freeze. Either way, it's delicious.

Makes 4 quarter-chicken servings

Number of Servings: 4

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user BIGGIRL2082010.

Member Ratings For This Recipe


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    Very Good
    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
    Well, THANK YOU! I'm going to get it all marinated for tomorrows dinner!
    Okay, tried it - a little dry so I probably did something wrong (left the foil on) DD said it was 'okay' not too spicy for her! I think for my taste, need to do more spices next time. (omitted the salt)
    :)
    - 10/4/08


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    Incredible!
    Fixed this for the family the other night and they just loved it. - 4/22/21


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    thanks - 6/29/20


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    yum - 7/6/19


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    Good
    The timing for this was completely off. I had to increase the amount of time by nearly 30 mins! Cooked with the skin on for my husband, removed skin from breast but it was dry, not sure if it was because I kept slicing the breast to check on whether it was cooked. - 10/3/16


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    Incredible!
    Oops forgot ginger.The chicken was very good and moist. I removed only the Breast skin & fat. Basted the chicken often with its own juices. Reduced heat after 40 min took of top foil to continue basting and browning - 7/11/13


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    Good
    This was ok. It was a little dry and didn't have much flavor. I have other roasted chicken recipes that I prefer. - 8/22/12


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    Very Good
    I tried this with just chicken breasts, used all the seasonings and then when the chicken was just cooked I added the yogurt and mixed all for about 2 min then removed from hot stove. Very nice flavor. I did not have turmeric (not sure how that would change it). We really liked this. - 8/14/11


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    Very Good
    This was very good. I used a lower temperature and more time to try to make it more moist. It was still a little drier than I would have liked, but overall quite tasty. After a couple of meals, I boiled the remaining chicken and made it into some of the best chicken noodle soup I've ever made. - 9/1/10


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    Incredible!
    I just love this recipe. I ended up putting the chicken in the crockpot, as I my roasting pan died and I forgot to buy a new one. It was very delicious, falling off the bones and all. I do want to try it roasted as directed. I bet the seasonings would be more concentrated - 8/13/09