The Indian dish Tandoori Chicken is named after the special tandoor oven in which it is cooked. The tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used for cooking and baking. Known for reaching temperatures around 900°F, the oven exposes the food to both live-fire, radiant heat cooking, and hot-air, convection cooking. Cooking Tandoori Chicken in such an oven results in juicy, slightly charred chicken.

So how do you cook it without the tandoor oven? I'll show you!

This recipe is from Cook's Illustrated magazine. The results were delish. My friend exclaimed, "This is the best f***ing chicken ever!"

The process isn't so difficult, just slightly more time consuming than your average mix and bake recipes. You have to make a marinade, massage the chicken, coat the chicken in sauce, bake it, then broil it.

Totally worth the effort though. I served the Tandoori Chicken with some mango chutney (Major Grey's) on this side and saffron yellow rice.

See that full-fat plain yogurt in the picture above? (I got the kind with "Cream Top"... extra rich.) That is very important. Make sure not to get the low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt.

Tandoori Chicken

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

5 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (2 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon garam masala

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

4 tablespoons juice from 2 limes, plus 1 lime, cut into wedges

2 teaspoons table salt

3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts, skin removed and trimmed of excess fat

1.  Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add garam masala, cumin, and chili powder; continue to cook until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds longer.  Transfer half of garlic-spice mixture to medium bowl; stir in yogurt and 2 tablespoons lime juice and set aside.

2.  In large bowl, combine remaining garlic-spice mixture, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and salt.  Using sharp knife, lightly score skinned side of each piece of chicken, making 2 or 3 shallow cuts about 1 inch apart and about 1/8 inch deep; transfer to bowl.  Using hands, gently massage salt-spice mixture into chicken until all pieces are evenly coated; let stand at room temperate 30 minutes.

3.  Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat oven to 325 degrees.  Pour yogurt mixture over chicken and toss until chicken is evenly coated with thick layer.  Arrange chicken pieces, scored-side down, on wire rack set in foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan.  Discard excess yogurt mixture. Bake chicken until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 125 degrees for breasts and 130 for legs and thighs, 15 to 25 minutes.  (Smaller pieces may cook faster than larger pieces. Transfer chicken from pieces to plate as they reach correct temperature.)

4.  After removing chicken from oven, turn oven to broil and heat 10 minutes.  Once broiler is heated, flip chicken pieces over and broil until chicken is lightly charred in spots and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165 degrees for breasts and 15 for legs and thighs, 8 to 15 minutes.  Transfer chicken to large plate, tent loosely with foil, and rest 5 minutes.  Serve with chutney or relish, passing lime wedges separately.