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Tandoori chicken is a dish made from chicken marinated in yogurt and spices and roasting in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven. The dish is now popular worldwide. The modern form of the dish was popularized by the Moti Mahal restaurant in New Delhi, India in the late 1940s.
Tandoori chicken as a dish originated in the Punjab before the independence of partition of India. In the late 1940s, tandoori chicken was popularised at Moti Mahal in the locality of Daryaganj in New Delhi by Kundan Lal Jaggi, Kundan Lal Gujral and Thakur Das Magu, who were Punjabi Hindus migrants from Peshawar as well as the founders of the Moti Mahal restaurant. They used to work at a small eatery called Moti Mahal, owned by a man named Mokha Singh Lamba in Peshawar, British India, from the 1920s to 1947.
Tandoori chicken was popularized in post-independence India by Moti Mahal, Daryaganj in Delhi when it was served to the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. There, tandoori chicken became a standard offering at official banquets.
In the United States, tandoori chicken began appearing on menus by the 1960s. Jacqueline Kennedy was reported to have eaten "chicken tandoori" on a flight from Rome to Bombay in 1962.Matt Weinstock, "Strange Beast Puts the Bite on Robert" Los Angeles Times (15 March 1962): A6. A recipe for tandoori chicken was printed in the Los Angeles Times in 1963, for "the hostess in search of a fresh idea for a party dinner"; "East Indian Cuisine Provides Inspiration for Hostesses" Los Angeles Times (14 March 1963): D6. a similar recipe was featured in the same newspaper in 1964.Marian Manners, "A Flock of Chicken Dishes From Around World" Los Angeles Times (17 September 1964): D1.
The marinated chicken is placed on skewers and cooked at high temperatures in a tandoor, which is heated with charcoal or wood, which adds to the smoky flavour. The dish can also be cooked in a standard oven, using a spit or rotisserie, or over hot charcoal.
There are also tandoori recipes for whole chicken, some of which are cooked in a tandoor and others over charcoal. These include Chirga (Roasted whole chicken); Tandoori Murgh (Roast whole chicken with almonds); Murgh Kabab Seekhi (Whole stuffed chicken on the spit); Kookarh Tandoori (Steamed chicken on spit); Tandoori Murgh Massaledarh (Whole spiced chicken on spit); and Murghi Bhogar (Chicken in the Bhogar style).
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