Topic: Tandoor cooking

[bimbound]

This might sound like a daft question but how much flavour does cooking chicken in a tandoor add?

I know it is used as a means to cook chicken quickly due to the high temps and often the chicken is marinated beforehand.

I have followed many recipes on this forum and from the net for base sauces/gravy and for making my two favourite BIR curries, Jalfrezi and Garlic chillli chicken, I've had some great tasting curries as a result but none have matched the BIR flavour I'm used to from our local restaurants/takeaways. I cant put my finger on what is missing, sort of a deep smokey taste. It's weird because curries I have made smell spot on but always something missing when I taste them.

The most obvious thing that I am missing would be cooking the chicken in a tandoor so I wondered if this would have a big impact on flavour?

[Stephen Lindsay]

I'm sure there will be other members on here will wish to comment on how to achieve the smoky taste which some people have also referred to as "toffee" like. Some swear by the need to cook hard and fast, i.e. at high temperatures as the key to achieving this flavour.

I personally use the Taz base which is slightly different in that you don't start by heating oil and adding spices. The oil content of the base is high and I tend to cook on medium to high heat for a longer period of time, until the base is reduced to a dry paste, then adding more base to make the finished sauce. This too achieves what I would call a caramelised flavour to the dish.

[gazman1976]

yeah I agree with Stephen, the first base reduction for me is crucial to a dry like paste