Home Tandoor Tips

[mickdabass]

Hi Solarsplace
tbh it was hit and miss. Averaged 50% success rate.
The heat is fearsome
Im going to take the easy option and get some welding type gloves before my hands look like Freddy Krueger's

[mickdabass]

Hi Panpot

I used CA's recipe for the naans but was too impatient to leave the dough in the fridge overnight.

The texture was spot-on but I still obviously need to get the hang of cooking with this beast

I will probably try Dipuraja's recipe next

I am so impressed with this Tandoor just a shame it hasnt got a lid

[Peripatetic Phil]

I am so impressed with this Tandoor just a shame it hasn't got a lid

Maybe it would get too hot with one !
** Phil.

[mickdabass]

Suppose that begs the question can a tandoor get too hot?
I would imagine the answer is Yes! I had to blacken the kebabs a bit to ensure they were properly cooked inside. Perhaps the oven was too hot? Perhaps I made then too big? The Keema naans were cooked perfectly though after 1 minute max. You could pull the thin wafer of meat out of the kebab and it remained intact with a rubbery type texture
I think the lid would help to get the temperature up initially though.
I actually carefully balanced a broken paving slab on the top taking great care not to scratch the tandoor while I went out for an hour searching for charcoal and that made a very noticeable difference to the temperature
I fired it up at about 11am and kept it going until about 5pm and used about 8Kg of charcoal. Im sure having a lid would give me a few more mpg tho lol

[Unclebuck]

Hi mick great pic's mate, the naan recipe i use in my tandoor is CBM's[his name is Mick to] and its the best Ive done by a long shot and now the only one i use -- i usually double the amount:

CBM's Naan Bread
Ingredients

300 grams of Self Raising Flour,
1 teaspoon of Baking Powder,
0.5 teaspoon of Salt,
Milk to add,
1 tablespoon of Sugar,
1 Egg,
3 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil,
1 teaspoon of Onion seeds (Kalonji).

Method:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl,
Add enough milk to get the dough to come together,
Knead for about 5 minutes,
Cover with a cloth and leave to stand for about 0.5 an hour

[mickdabass]

Thanks UB

I'm sure you have just saved me hours of time
I will give it a go next weekend
When it comes to home Tandoor Cooking...you are the man.
I will let you know how I get on

Oh sorry Phil(Chaa006)
forgot to say: 7 skewers are about 6mm dia
The other one is about 8mm

[haldi]

Suppose that begs the question can a tandoor get too hot?

When I use my tandoor for naans, I'm upping and downing the gas all the time, to regulate temperature
Too hot ,and the naans burn on the clay by the time the outside cooks.
Too cold and the naans won't stick
I've seen side chefs cooling tandoors down, with a damp tea towel
They swish it around the clay sides, for a minute, with the gas turned off
One chef told me they cook most of thier tikka, when their tandoor has been turned off.
It's very easy to burn
I use this method now
If you get it exact, the chicken is really moist
The first time I tried it, I wondered if it was cooked through
It was
But it just had an amazing soft texture, from the marinade

[mickdabass]

Hi Haldi
That must be why the chicken tikka turned out so well. It was the very first thing i cooked and looking back i realise now that the tandoor was no where near as hot as it was when i cooked the naans.
Beginners luck i guess
Next time i use it i will try to remember to cook the chicken first.
Do you think it would be wise to buy a thermometer of some kind? It would be interesting to know how hot it gets anyway

[commis]

Hi
I've thought the best lid for a tandoor would be a Tava/Tawa, cheap, ready available, can be used to cook on!
Regards

[Razor]

Commis,

Hi
I've thought the best lid for a tandoor would be a Tava/Tawa, cheap, ready available, can be used to cook on!
Regards

Great minds and all that

I was thinking exactly the same thing, when Mick first mentioned it.

Ray