Tandoori Chicken/ Oven roasted chicken in a tangy marinade

Chicken lovers don't need an introduction. It's pretty simple to make. And now you won't have to depend on store bought tandoor masala. Make your own marinade and give it your own twist if you wish!

You need:

Whole chicken – cleaned and skin removed (use a young chicken, weighing around 800- 900 gram)

Lime juice – 2 tbsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Kashmiri mirch/ Paprika – 2 tsp

Ginger paste – 2 tsp

Garlic paste – 2 tsp

Yogurt/ thick curd – 1 cup

Red chili powder  - 1/ tsp (adjust to taste)

Mustard powder – 1 tsp

Garam Masala – ½ tsp

Gram Flour/ Besan – 3 Tbsp

Salt

Mustard Oil – 2 Tbsp

Vegetable Oil – 2 Tbsp

1. In a bowl place the chicken. Rub the mixture of lime juice, salt and 1 tsp of kashmiri mirch well into the chicken. Now add 1 tsp each of ginger and garlic paste and rub well. 
2. Heat vegetable oil and roast gram flour, till it gives a nice aroma. Make sure you don't burn it as it will turn bitter. 
3. In another bowl take yogurt, 1 tsp ginger paste, 1 tsp garlic paste, garam masala, red chili powder, 1 tsp kashmiri mirch, mustard powder, mustard oil and salt. Mix it really well so that it forms a homogeneous mixture. 
4. Now add this marinade to the chicken and rub well. Make sure the slit on the chicken too have marinade the marinade coated uniformly. Put a cling wrap and keep it in the fridge for 3-4 hours min. 
5. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degree F. Place the chicken on a baking try in the middle rack. After 25 min, baste the chicken with some oil/ butter and let the other side of the chicken face up. Bake for another 25 min. 
6. Sprinkle chat masala on top before serving.
7. Serve with lime wedges, sliced onions and mint chutney. 

*Before marinating, make slits on chicken on both sides as follows – 

- 3 slits on the thigh

- 3 slits each on left and right breast. To simplify, place the chicken on a chopping board (lying position), with neck on top, breast in the center (facing up) and thigh below. Now imagine the chicken  wearing a V neck sweater. :) make the first slit along the neck V, and then 2 more parallel to that. This slit is important as chicken becomes tough if the slits are in the opposite direction.

- Make small cuts in the knee joint, and also the end of the leg piece (usually its call the vein)