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Dry-heat cooking · advanced

Tandoor cooking

Also: tandoori

Cooking in a deep clay oven heated by charcoal or wood, with breads slapped on the walls and meats on long skewers.

1 recipes use it

What it is

A tandoor is a cylindrical clay (or clay-lined) oven fired from the bottom. Marinated meat, paneer and vegetables are threaded on long skewers and lowered into it; naan, kulcha and tandoori roti are slapped onto the hot inner wall. It is used across Punjab, north India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Why cooks use it: The combination of radiant heat from the walls, very hot air and smoke from dripping marinade gives fast charring, a smoky flavour and breads that puff and blister in a minute or two.

The science

The thick clay walls store a large amount of heat and radiate it evenly; the open top creates a strong convection current. Breads touching the wall cook by conduction underneath while the radiant heat puffs and blisters the top. Yogurt marinades brown quickly because of their milk sugars and proteins.

How heat moves into foodThe Maillard reactionHow proteins set when cookedAcids and bases in cooking

Step by step

  1. Marinate the meat or paneer (often yogurt, ginger-garlic, chilli, spices and lemon) for several hours in the fridge.

  2. Fire the tandoor until the walls are very hot and the coals glow; this takes 1–2 hours for a clay tandoor.

  3. Thread meat on long skewers with small gaps between pieces and lower them in, resting the ends on the rim.

  4. Turn or lift the skewers, baste with ghee or butter, and cook until charred at the edges and cooked through.

  5. For breads, stretch the dough on a cushion (gaddi), dampen the back with water and press it onto the hot wall; lift it off with hooks when blistered.

Heat and timing

  • Tandoor cooking 300–480 °C · Air temperatures inside a working tandoor are often cited at roughly 300–480 °C; they vary with the fire and the spot.

Time: Chicken tikka about 8–12 minutes; whole tandoori chicken about 15–20 minutes; naan 1–2 minutes.

How you know it’s right

  • Edges of the meat charred while the centre stays juicy
  • Naan blistered with dark spots and puffed
  • Bread releases from the wall when cooked

Common mistakes

  • Packing pieces tightly on the skewer
  • Marinade too wet so it drips off and burns
  • Not basting, so meat dries out

Troubleshooting

Naan falls off the wall
The wall is not hot enough or the back of the dough is too wet or too dry.
Charred outside, raw inside
Use smaller pieces and rest skewers higher in the oven, away from the coals.

Restaurant DNA

How professionals do it

Indian restaurants keep a tandoor going for the whole service with a dedicated tandoor cook; marinated items are prepared ahead in batches and breads are made to order on the wall.

At home

Use the oven at its highest setting with the top broiler on and a preheated pizza steel or stone for naan; for tikka, skewer on a rack over a tray close to the broiler and finish with dhungar for smoke. A cast-iron pan flipped upside down under the broiler also works for naan.

General professional practice — not any particular restaurant’s recipe.

Food safety

  • Tandoors are extremely hot; use long gloves and hooks.
  • Poultry must reach 74 °C.
  • Use charcoal ovens only outdoors or under commercial extraction.

Practise it