What a tandoor is, why it gets so hot, and how it cooks tandoori chicken, kebabs and naan, from the charred edges to the bread slapped onto its clay walls.
Behind many Indian restaurant kitchens is a deep clay pot set into an insulated box, with a fire glowing at the bottom. That is the tandoor, and it is behind some of the most famous dishes in Indian cooking: tandoori chicken, kebabs, tikka and naan.
A clay oven shaped like a jar
A tandoor is a tall, bell- or jar-shaped vessel of clay, open at the top. Traditionally it is heated with charcoal or wood burning at the bottom; many restaurants now use gas. The thick clay walls soak up heat and give it back evenly, so a tandoor cooks three ways at once:
- Radiant heat from the fire and glowing walls.
- Hot air rising through the chamber like a chimney.
- Direct contact, for bread pressed onto the clay.
The result is heat no home oven can reach. Meat and bread cook in minutes, charring outside while staying moist inside.
How kebabs and tandoori chicken cook
Marinated meat is threaded onto long steel skewers and lowered into the tandoor, standing upright. Juices and marinade drip onto the coals and send up smoke, which is a big part of the flavour. The yogurt in the marinade helps the surface brown and char before the inside dries out.
Our menu has tandoori chicken, hariyali kebab (green herbs), murg malai kebab (cream and mild spice), tangdi kebab (drumsticks) and tikka.
How naan cooks
Naan dough is stretched by hand, then slapped onto the hot inside wall of the tandoor, where it sticks. In a minute or two it puffs and blisters; the cook peels it off with a hooked rod. That contact with the hot clay gives naan its charred spots and soft, chewy middle. Butter, garlic or onion go on at the end.
Where it comes from
Clay ovens like this have been used for thousands of years across Central and South Asia and the Middle East. Tandoori chicken as restaurants serve it today is closely tied to Punjab and to Delhi after Partition in 1947, when Punjabi cooks brought their ovens and recipes with them. From there it travelled with Indian restaurants around the world.
Try it at home
You can’t fit a tandoor in most kitchens, but a hot grill gets you a long way. Try our chicken tikka recipe.