Recipe: Perfect Mex-Inspired Tandoori Chicken

Mex-Inspired Tandoori Chicken.

You can cook Mex-Inspired Tandoori Chicken using 16 ingredients and 6 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of Mex-Inspired Tandoori Chicken

1. It's 5 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, scored 1/4" deep twice on each side (whole drums and thighs or half breast pieces).
2. Prepare 1 cup of yogurt.
3. Prepare 1 of medium tomato, finely chopped (if no fresh tomatoes, you can use 1/3 cup well drained chopped canned tomatoes).
4. It's 1/2 of medium onion, finely chopped or grated.
5. You need 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated.
6. You need 1.5-2 Tablespoons of kosher salt.
7. You need 2 teaspoons of sugar.
8. You need of the zest of 1 lime.
9. You need 1 Tablespoon of lime juice.
10. It's 1/3-1/2 cup of chopped cilantro.
11. It's 2 teaspoons of achiote powder.
12. It's 1 teaspoon of cumin.
13. You need 2 teaspoons of dried Mexican oregano (the other kind will do in a pinch, of course).
14. You need 2-4 of minced Serrano chilies (Jalapeños work as well).
15. Prepare 3 Tablespoons of oil.
16. You need 1 of green onion, chopped, and a handful of chopped cilantro for garnish.

Mex-Inspired Tandoori Chicken instructions

1. Place all ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix and massage with your hands to thoroughly and evenly season each piece of chicken..
2. Allow to marinate for at least 4 hours, and up to a full day, in the refrigerator, making sure to redistribute the chicken once or twice to ensure that all the seasoning gets evenly distributed again after the chicken and vegetable matter release liquid..
3. An hour before cooking, take the chicken out of the fridge and lay the chicken out in a single layer, skin side down, on a lightly oiled broiler pan, or on a rack on a baking pan or sheet, to bring the chicken up to room temp..
4. Preheat the oven to broil (this usually takes 20 minutes or so), then broil the chicken about 4 inches under the broiler element (yours may be under the oven or right under the top heat element of the main oven compartment) for 8 minutes per side, finishing this step with the skin side up..
5. Turn the oven heat down to 425F and continue roasting the chicken on the middle rack for another 20 to 25 minutes..
6. Serve on a platter with chopped green onions and cilantro sprinkled atop..