Tandoori Chicken
tan-DOOR-ee CHIK-en — Named for the tandoor, the clay oven it's traditionally cooked in.
₹320
The dish that came first — its leftovers, stirred into a butter-tomato gravy, are what's credited with inventing butter chicken.
Tandoori chicken predates butter chicken in the same Moti Mahal lineage in Delhi — the char-roasted chicken came first, and it was leftover, slightly dried-out tandoori chicken that supposedly got simmered into a butter-and-tomato gravy so it wouldn't go to waste. That gravy became famous in its own right, but the original tandoori chicken never stopped being ordered alongside it.
What makes it taste like that
A two-stage yogurt marinade is what gives it both tenderness and color — the first marinade tenderizes the meat, and the second, spiced one is what actually browns and flavors it once it hits the tandoor's high, dry heat.
Chef's note
Don't skip the first marinade to save time — the second one flavors the surface, but it's the first that actually tenderizes the meat underneath.