Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Tandoori Murg
Tandoori Murg (Grilled (Broiled) Chicken)

Tandoori Murg

Grilled (Broiled) Chicken
Non-vegetarian●●●Origin PunjabPrep 15 minutes, plus marinating timeCook 20 minutes–1½ hours

Whole chicken double-marinated in spiced yoghurt, ginger, and garlic, then roasted until smoky, tender, and charred. It finishes with a punchy splash of fresh lemon and tangy chaat masala.

First marinade pastes

16 gStirred into the initial marinade (step 2)
Combine the pastes evenly.

Second marinade spices

31 gWhisked into the spiced yoghurt mixture (step 3)
Stir the pastes and garam masala thoroughly.

Everything else

01
1200 g1 chicken
poultry
02
to taste
dairy
03
61 g4 tablespoons
souring agent
04
31 g2 tablespoons
souring agent
05
to taste
salt
07
74 g5½ tablespoons
oil/fat

Method

  1. Score 1200 g chicken three times across each breast and leg to allow the seasonings to penetrate deeply.
  2. In a broad dish, combine the first marinade pastes with 30.6 g lemon juice, 1 tablespoon None, and salt to taste. Massage the mixture thoroughly across the chicken, then cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  3. In a separate dish, whisk 400 g None with the second marinade spices, 1 tablespoon None, and 74.2 g vegetable oil. Rub this mixture completely over the pre-marinated chicken, cover, and return to the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.
  4. Heat a tandoor or charcoal grill to medium, or preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F). For grilling or the tandoor, secure the chicken from tail to head onto a sturdy metal skewer and cook for 12 to 15 minutes until partially cooked. If baking, lay the chicken in a roasting tin, cover with foil, and roast for 1 to 1½ hours until the internal juices run clear, basting halfway through with any reserved marinade.
  5. If skewered, suspend the chicken off the heat for 2 to 3 minutes to drain excess liquid. Brush generously with None for basting, then return to the tandoor, grill, or oven for another 5 to 7 minutes until fully cooked and lightly charred.
  6. Carve the cooked chicken into 4 portions on a cutting board, dust with 2 tablespoon None, drizzle over 61.2 g lemon juice, and serve immediately.

Don't have something?

Chicken
  • Turkey thigh

    Use 100% of the weight, cut into equivalent bone-in or boneless pieces. Simmer for an extra 5 to 10 minutes; flavour and texture are very similar.

  • Lamb

    Use 100% of the weight. Cut into bite-sized pieces and extend simmering time by 35 to 50 minutes, adding extra liquid to allow the meat to tenderise.

Melted butter
  • Melted ghee

    Use the same weight; nuttier and keeps better. Reduce salt if the butter was salted.

  • Vegetable oil

    Use 80% of the weight; no dairy flavour and less richness. Good for frying, less good for finishing.

  • Melted unsalted butter

    Use the same weight; adjust salt in the dish if your butter was salted.

Chaat masala
  • Tandoori snack spice mix

    Use the same weight; taste first as it can be smokier and saltier. Add lime or amchoor if the dish needs more tang.

  • Dried mango powder

    Use about half the weight, mixed with black salt and a pinch of ground cumin. It gives tang and saltiness but lacks the minty, asafoetida notes.

  • Black salt

    Use about half the weight and add lime juice to taste. It gives the salty, sulphurous edge but not the full tangy blend.

Lemon juice
  • Lime juice

    Use equal volume or weight; delivers almost identical sharp acidity with a faintly more aromatic, bitter-edged profile.

  • Dried mango powder

    Use 25% of the weight (about 1 g amchoor for 4 g juice); provides clean fruity tartness without thinning the sauce.

  • White vinegar

    Use 75% of the volume; gives direct sourness without any citrus floral fragrance.

Ginger paste
  • Fresh ginger

    Use equal weight; peel and grate very finely on a microplane or pound to a fine paste in a mortar.

  • Ginger

    Use equal weight; mince finely and crush with the flat of a knife before frying.

  • Ground ginger

    Use 20% of the weight; add directly with the dry spice powders, though it yields an earthier, less pungent profile.

Garlic paste
  • Garlic

    Use equal weight; crush or finely grate to a smooth pulp to replicate the same fresh, pungent moisture in your base gravy.

  • Garlic powder

    Use 20 to 25% of the weight; mix with a teaspoon of water before adding to oil so it does not burn, noting it lacks the fresh bite.

Red chilli paste
  • Red chilli powder

    Use about 30–40% of the paste weight, mix with water to a paste and add gradually; it is drier and hotter.

  • Fresh red chilli

    Blend deseeded fresh red chillies to the same weight as the paste; fresher, sharper heat and more moisture.

  • Kashmiri red chilli powder

    Use the same weight mixed with water; gives good red colour but much less heat, so add cayenne if needed.

Hung yoghurt
  • Hung natural yoghurt

    Use the same weight. The names are used interchangeably; check seasoning.

  • Greek yoghurt

    Use the same weight. It is thick enough for marinades and raitas, with a slightly sharper taste.

  • Full-fat natural yoghurt

    Use about 175% of the weight and strain through muslin for 3–4 hours to get the same thick weight.

Garam masala
  • Ground cumin

    Use 50% of the weight mixed with equal parts ground coriander and a pinch of ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground green cardamom. Sprinkle near the end for a warming finish.

  • Lentil stew spice mix

    Use 75% of the weight. Simmer briefly in the gravy; imparts roasted warmth and complexity, though it adds a slight tang and earthy lentil undertone.

Ground dried fenugreek leaves
Vegetable oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Handles high-heat frying identically and introduces a very subtle, pleasant nuttiness.

  • Ghee

    Use 1:1 by weight. Yields a much richer, authentic aroma and a glossy, heavier mouthfeel.

  • Mustard oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Heat until smoking, then cool slightly before cooking to temper its intensely pungent, sharp mustard kick.

Similar dishes

Kali Mirch ka Murg
Pepper Chicken in Thick Sauce
Kali Mirch ka Murg tastes sharply pungent from heavy black pepper and savoury onions, lacking the smoky, chaat-spiced tang of this dish.
  • Same: Kali Mirch ka Murg also uses chicken cooked with vegetable oil, ginger paste, garlic paste, and lemon juice.
  • Different: Instead of being roasted dry with garam masala and chaat masala like this dish, Kali Mirch ka Murg is simmered into a thick gravy with onions and black peppercorns.
Murg Methi Tikka
Fenugreek-flavoured Chicken
Murg Methi Tikka tastes herbaceous and slightly bitter from methi with green-chilli heat and mustard-oil pungency, while this dish tastes smoky and tangy from lemon and chaat masala.
  • Same: Murg Methi Tikka shares a double marinade of hung yoghurt, ginger, garlic, and lemon juice with this dish, and both are grilled until charred and juicy.
  • Different: Murg Methi Tikka uses boneless chicken and adds fresh fenugreek purée, fenugreek seeds, green chilli, chickpea flour, and mustard oil, while this dish uses a whole chicken with red chilli paste, garam masala, chaat masala, and vegetable oil.
Murg Dalcha Kebab
Chicken & Lentil Kebabs
Murg Dalcha Kebab tastes creamier and lentil-rich with a milder chilli heat, while this dish is more smoky, charred, and tangy from lemon and chaat masala.
  • Same: Murg Dalcha Kebab shares chicken, hung yoghurt, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, garam masala, vegetable oil, melted butter, and a double-marinade then char-grilling style with this dish.
  • Different: Murg Dalcha Kebab uses chicken breast instead of whole chicken and adds pureed chana dal, single cream, nutmeg, and yellow chilli powder, while it lacks this dish's chaat masala, red chilli paste, and dried fenugreek leaves.
Murg Kandahari
Chicken with Pomegranate
Murg Kandahari tastes tangier from pomegranate and nuttier from chickpea flour, with less lemon-butter richness and less of this dish's ginger-garlic heat.
  • Same: Murg Kandahari and this dish both use chicken marinated in hung yoghurt or curd and both are cooked by grilling or roasting with a smoky finish.
  • Different: Murg Kandahari adds roasted chickpea flour, pomegranate juice and seeds, and beetroot purée, and it uses red chilli powder instead of this dish's red chilli paste, ginger paste, garlic paste, butter, lemon juice, garam masala, and dried fenugreek leaves.