tandoori update

char buddy

After a real nice Indian style dinner - tandoori drumsticks, sweet potato/fruit salad, I am now kicking back at the computer with a glass of wine.[p]This forum is truly awesome - sort of an interactive cookbook. I followed up on the several posts I got and went to a website with several tandoori recipes and
Alan Z.'s website over in the Kamodo world. And as I mentioned earlier I visited our own GFW's website as well. [p]I couldn't get a consensus, so a lot of what I did was guesswork. Alan Z and GFW both use ceramic cookers and they pretty much agreed that you cook the
chicken at 600* to 650*. GFW said cook for 25 minutes (turning every 7 minutes,but he complained that his results were dry. I couldn't really tell how long Alan Z. cooked his chicken ("...several minutes per side") but he said his came out moist and wonderful. Finally, one post in a recipe archive (a non-ceramic cookware archive) said vary the temp in an oven between broiling and baking. [p]I decided to cook at 600* and turn my drumsticks every six minutes for 18 minutes. During the cook I couldn't really stabilize the BGE at 600* and I ended up
doing what the non-ceramicist recipe called - moving back and forth between broiling and baking. My temps must have ranged between 450 and 650* as I kept
closing and opening the daisy wheel and even taking it off a couple of times to get the temps up. I kept to the six minutes interval pretty well. [p]The results were superb. Seriously crispy on the outside, moist and yummy on the inside with nice subtle flavors bouncing around. Even now an hour latter my
tongue tingles (wow, that wine is having its effect). Two the drumsticks were a little undercooked (hot spots), but the results were well worth. I'll try this one again.[p]I can't comment much on the marinade other than to say we used Julie Sahni recipe in Moghul Microwave and we substituted half a teaspoon of cinnamon for 1
teaspoon of cardamom because we had no cardamom. Also most of the posts forget that you should paint the chicken with your food coloring directly before putting
it in the marinade. That way you get that hellish red color you get in restaurants. With the grill marks and chars, the results are simply awesome in appearance.
I wish I had a camera. [p]Quote GFW, "Life is good."