Tandoori Skillet Chicken

Tandoori Chicken Freezer Meal (with Lemon Rice and Peas)

Tandoori Chicken is great to serve with any Indian Meal. When I buy a large package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, this is one of the Meals that I prepare. Then, when I'm serving Indian Dishes like Dal or a fancy Rice dish, I can easily cook this for the meat eaters in the family.

Since I'm vegetarian, I like having handy dishes like this to prepare for the meat eaters in my family, without having to make an entire second meal.

That way, I just serve a vegetarian meal with an optional side of meat : )

I adapted this from a recipe I found years ago in a cookbook called Miserly Moms

Here's how I make it:

I cut the chicken in slices about 1/4" thick. I use about 2 pounds of chicken (which fills a 1 quart freezer bag). Usually that's 2 large chicken breasts. I don't weigh them, I simply look how many there are in a package, and I check what weight is listed on the package. Usually it's an 8 to 9 pound package, with 8 to 9 breasts inside. If it's a 3 pound package with 6 breasts, I'd use 4 of them for this recipe.

Preparing the meat this way makes it marinate more easily, thaw more easily, and cook more quickly. Besides that, it allows each diner to eat exactly the amount he or she desires, instead of being forced by portion size to take too much or too little.

After I cut the chicken, I pull out a 1 quart bag and label it "Tandoori Chicken."

Then, I measure the marinade directly into the bag:

Tandoori Chicken Marinade
1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 Tablespoon Curry Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon fresh minced Garlic (I buy the kind in a jar in the produce section)
1 teaspoon fresh Ginger (again, from a squeeze jar from the produce section)

1/2 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

I close the bag, and squish it several times to mix the marinade.

Then, I open the bag again, add the sliced Chicken, re-seal, and toss in the fridge.

Then, that night or the next day, I remove the chicken from the marinade with a fork, and grill it in a lightly oiled, nonstick skillet.

Omnivores will like this with your favorite Raita (Indian Yogurt Sauce).

I like to serve this with any of the following Vegan Dishes:

Indian Chickpeas in Ginger Sauce over Rice
Indian Lemon Rice with Peas 
Indian Mung Beans 
Indian Spiced Blackeye Peas over Rice
Whole Wheat Naan (or White Naan made by the same method from this recipe)
Lemony Dal
Masala Dal

If you like, the dishes in this Indian Vegan Freezer Cooking Plan  (which includes several of the above dishes) all go nicely with this Tandoori Chicken : )

(Edited March 2021, NOTE: I originally published this as a freezer meal. The first time I tested the recipe in the freezer, it seemed to work fine. In the second trial, though - after I published this - the yogurt's texture changed and it did not work as well. So, I now encourage making this dish within 24 hours of beginning marinade process, and only storing it in the refrigerator)

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Wise Woman
Food on Friday - Chicken