Wood Fired Oven Tandoori Chicken with Fire Roasted Veg, Pickled Red Onion, Coriander Chutney & Raita

Tandoori Chicken

8 chicken legs

6 tbsp natural yoghurt

4 tsp paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp garam masala

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp onion powder or granules

2 tsp garlic powder or granules

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp chilli powder

2 tbsp cold pressed british rapeseed oil

Roasted Vegetables 

4 large red onions

8 large red peppers

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

Salt & pepper

Pickled Red Onion

100g boiling water

100g red wine vinegar

75g sugar

1 red onion

½ tsp cumin seeds (optional)

Coriander Chutney

Bunch fresh coriander

Bunch fresh mint, leaves picked

2 x thumb sized pieces fresh ginger

6 garlic cloves

2 tbsp sugar

Juice of 2 lemons

5-6 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 green chillies

Salt & pepper

Raita

12 tbsp natural yoghurt

Medium cucumber

3 tsp fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

Juice of a lemon

Salt & pepper

Garnish

Fresh coriander leaves

Fresh chilli, thinly sliced

Juice of ½ a lemon

To make the tandoori marinade, mix the yoghurt with all of the dry spices, salt and pepper and set aside. Slice into the flesh of the chicken legs, allowing the marinade to penetrate further and to speed up cooking. Generously cover the chicken in the marinade and rub over all sides, including the cavity/underside of the chicken. Place the chicken in a suitable sized bowl or roasting tray, cover and leave to marinate - overnight if you have time, otherwise for as long as you have.

To make the pickled red onion, peel and thinly slice the red onion, mix the water, red wine vinegar, sugar and optional cumin seeds together until the sugar has dissolved. Add the sliced red onion and leave to pickle for at least 30 minutes - you can make these in advance, just store them in the fridge making sure to use a sterilised container.

When you are ready to cook, light your pizza oven and aim to maintain your oven temperature around 200-220ºC.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Peel and slice the onion into wedges. Deseed the peppers and cut into large chunks. Spread the vegetables across a suitably sized oven proof roasting tin or cast-iron pan and drizzle with some olive oil and a good pinch of salt.

Place the marinated chicken on top of the vegetables and roast in the oven for 40-45 minutes until the thickest part of the chicken breast reaches 74ºC. Once core temperature is reached, remove from the oven, loosely cover in foil and leave to rest for 10-20 minutes

During the resting time, you can make the sauces and garnishes – but you can also make these ahead if you prefer.

To make the raita, deseed and finely chop the cucumber into 5-10mm pieces. Mix with the yoghurt, finely shredded mint, lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

To make the coriander chutney, place all the ingredients into a food processor or use a jug and stick blender. Blend on high until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, lemon juice and sugar - it should be fresh and zingy, and you can make this as hot as you like by adding more chilli.

When you’re ready to serve, remove the foil, dollop/drizzle liberally with the raita and coriander chutney followed by the strained pickled red onions, fresh sliced chilli, fresh coriander leaves and a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve in the middle of the table and allow your guests to help themselves and dig in. We usually serve this with crispy smashed new potatoes and a salad, but it works equally well with flatbreads!

If you still aren't sure which charcoal or smoking wood to buy, just send us an email on info@love-logs.com and we'll do our best to help!

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