Tandoori Chicken

1.5 lb chicken breast (chopped into large pieces)
1 small onion
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt, or sour cream
1 tsp ginger, chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp coriander seed
1/2 tsp cayenne, optional
2 whole cloves
1 tsp cumin seed
4 cardamom pods
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garam masala, or other curry powder
1/4 tsp red food coloring

Remove the skin and all visible fat from the chicken pieces. (I often have the butcher skin the chicken.) Cut 2-3 slits, 1 in. long and .5 in. deep, in each piece of chicken. Place in a casserole dish and set aside. Cut onion into 4-5 pieces. In a blender jar put onion, tomato sauce, yogurt, ginger, garlic cloves, coriander, cayenne pepper, cloves, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, salt, garam masala and red food coloring. Blend to a smooth paste. Pour the tandoori paste on the chicken and turn pieces to thoroughly coat with spices. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator 4-24 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove chicken pieces from the marinade, saving marinade. Arrange pieces in a broiler pan. Bake uncovered in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over and brush with remaining marinade. Bake for 10-15 minutes until chicken is tender. Turn oven to broil. Turn pieces over once again and broil for 5 minutes to get a nice red color. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve with lemon wedges or squeeze lemon juice over the chicken before eating, if desired.

Serves 6.

Number of Servings: 6

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user EMILYSM679.