As a piping hot plate crispy tandoori chicken arrives on our table today, we do not even take a second to hold it with both hands and bite a huge chunk from the centre. Sometimes it is eaten stand alone while at other times, people like to pair it with mint chutney and onion rings. This enhances the umami experience of the entire dish. I am such a huge fan of tandoori chicken that only by the looks of it I can make out if it is properly cooked or not. The golden-brown crispy exterior with the smoky aroma makes me drool just at the sight of it. In order to make it a complete meal, I often combine it with dal makhni and roomali roti. Since the chicken dish is relatively dry, the creamy dal makhni complements it perfectly.
When The Chicken Was First Dunked In A Tandoor
There has been historical evidence of food being cooked in clay ovens during the Harappan civilisation because historians have found char marks while excavating the remains of that era. In fact, the mention of marinated meat cooked in clay ovens has been found in ancient texts like Sushruta Samhita too.
The actual tandoori chicken is believed to have come out of a real tandoor only in the 1940s. Legend has it that Kundan Lal Gujral along with two others invented the dish in pre-Partition era. These three worked with Mokha Singh, who had laid the foundation of the first Moti Mahal restaurant in Peshawar, Pakistan. The tandoori chicken became a highlight of their menu. It was only after the Partition of India and Pakistan took place that Gujral migrated to the Indian side, only to setup the legendary Moti Mahal restaurant in Daryaganj, Delhi.
It is interesting to note how Kundan Lal Gujral, a young chef at the restaurant managed to whip up such an iconic dish in lieu of his marination experiments which gave birth to a plethora of other variations.
1. Butter Chicken
Yes, the oh-so-popular butter chicken that is stuck to our tongues when we think of North Indian non-veg curries was a gift of tandoori chicken. The story goes like this. After Gujral fled to India post Partition, his entrepreneurial brain led him to set up the Moti Mahal restaurant in Daryaganj. At this newly-opened venture, he faced problems of refrigeration and storage but he couldn’t let the uneaten food go to waste. So, in order to make use of the leftover tandoori tikkas, he prepared a creamy and rich tomato, butter and cream gravy which would enhance the otherwise dry chicken and make it moist and soft. This accidental experiment received a lot of appreciation and is known as Butter Chicken since.
2. Chicken Tikka
The concept of tikkas was a successor of tandoori chicken. While tandoori chicken is usually cooked with bones, the idea of cooking succulent boneless pieces of chicken emerged later. Tikka translates into bits and pieces and it is said that Babur, the first Mughal emperor had ordered his chef to remove the bones as he was scared of choking on them. This led to the invention of these boneless pieces of meat that were marinated in yoghurt and spices and then cooked in a tandoor like tandoori chicken.
3. Chicken Tikka Masala
As the name suggests, chicken tikka masala takes inspiration from chicken tikka. Now, there are plenty of theories around its origins. Often referred to as the British national dish, given its immense popularity in the UK, it is believed to have originated there. Yet another claim states that it was invented in India during the rule of Bahadur Shah Zafar. The most fascinating story claims that it was created in Glasgow, Scotland in 1970. When a British customer tasted the chicken tikka at Sheesh Mahal restaurant, he was dissatisfied because it appeared very dry. Upon requesting for gravy, he was served the tikkas in a canned tomato soup and yoghurt curry which appeased his taste buds. Hence, the chicken tikka masala was reimagined.
4. Murg Malai Tikka
A creamier version of the spicy chicken tikka, the murg malai tikka has been attributed to the era of 60s and 70s. Processed cheese was also used in this experimentation and the rich flavours of the dish made it an upscale variation of chicken tikka.
5. Chicken Pakora
Crunchy and crispy, the chicken pakora comes full circle as it goes back to the original creator of tandoori chicken. Perplexed about a suitable fried snack in his Peshawar restaurant in the 1930s, Gujral dipped the boneless chicken pieces in gram flour, just like we would dip aloo or pyaaz and deep-fried it in piping hot oil. The outcome was a crispy non-vegetarian snack that could be eaten with sauce and chutney on the side.