Tandoori Chicken

It's still really cold. The wind chill is supposed to climb into positive numbers today, but this morning we got about 5 inches of snow. You just can't win. So, I decided to pretend that I'm in India. It worked. Or perhaps it was the heat of the oven and stove.... either way, I'm warmer.

Tandoori Chicken (adapted from "Complete Book of Indian Cooking" by Suneeta Vaswani)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or any other skinless pieces)

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/2 lime

1/2 Tbsp minced ginger

1/2 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix yogurt, lime juice, ginger, garlic, and spices in shallow bowl. Rinse chicken and cut deep slits against the grain. Put chicken in yogurt mixture, turning to coat, and make sure that marinade gets into all slits. Cover and put in refrigerator for 2-12 hours. Preheat oven to 375 and put chicken on baking pan covered in foil. Bake for 35-45 min until juices run clear. Serves 4.

This had great flavor and just the right amount of heat (reduce the cayenne if you can't handle any spice). It was a great dish to make with energy-consuming sides because you prepare it ahead of time and throw it in the oven and forget about it. It doesn't quite compare to the tandoori chicken at Indian restaurants, but perhaps the clay oven really does perform magic. Using boneless chicken (and white meat) probably also had a big effect. This was still great, though, and definitely warmed me up!