Tandoori Cooking

In India, a popular method of baking, roasting, and grilling is called tandoori, named after the tandoor (clay oven), which cooks all three ways simultaneously. Tandoor ovens were initially used for baking breads and later for meats. Bread dough is stretched, shaped, and smacked onto the sides of the pit, and baked in about five minutes. All tandoori meat dishes are first marinated in a special spiced yogurt marinade with a natural dye added to give the meat a strong aesthetic appeal with its bright red-orange color. This coloring distinguishes a tandoori dish from all others. Tandoori meats are generally very moist and tender with a distinctive earthy aroma absorbed by the clay lining of the oven.