Tandoor Cooking: Ancient Technique, Modern Flavours
The tandoor is the oldest piece of equipment in our kitchen. It's also the most important. Chicken, fish, paneer and naan all pass through it, picking up a smoke and char that no other oven can replicate.
How it works
A tandoor is a tall clay oven heated by a wood or charcoal fire at the bottom. The interior walls retain heat at around 480°C — hot enough to char marinated chicken in eight minutes and bake a naan in ninety seconds.
The walls are seasoned over time. Fat and spice from every dish soak into the clay, which is why a well-used tandoor cooks differently to a brand new one.
Why it matters
The intense dry heat seals juices in instantly — that's why tandoori chicken stays tender even after a hard char. The smoke from the fire infuses everything around it. Run the same marinated chicken through a regular grill and the result is good. Run it through a tandoor and the result is unmistakable.
Where the tandoor comes from
Clay ovens like the tandoor have been used across Central and South Asia for thousands of years. The version most diners know, cooking marinated chicken on long skewers, became famous in Punjab and then in Delhi after 1947, the same story that gave the world butter chicken. Today the tandoor is the heart of most North Indian restaurant kitchens.
The marinade does half the work
Tandoori dishes are marinated before they ever meet the heat. Yoghurt tenderises the meat and helps the spices cling, lemon juice adds brightness, and ginger, garlic and garam masala bring the flavour. Our tandoori chicken is chicken on the bone marinated in yoghurt, ginger, garlic, lemon juice and spices; the chicken tikka uses boneless pieces with yoghurt, herbs and Indian spices.
The red colour traditionally comes from Kashmiri chilli, which is mild and bright rather than hot.
Bread from the tandoor
Tandoori roti is slapped against the hot inner wall of the oven, where it puffs and blisters in moments. Wholemeal flour gives it a nutty flavour and a firmer bite than naan. It is the bread to choose if you want something lighter alongside a rich curry.
What to order from the tandoor
For a first taste, try the tandoori chicken or chicken tikka as a starter, both served with mint chutney. Lamb seekh kabab, minced lamb on skewers, is the pick for lamb lovers. If you cannot choose, the mixed platter brings samosa, onion bhaji, lamb seekh kabab and chicken tikka together. Smoky tandoori dishes pair well with a dry rosé or a pale ale, as our BYO pairing guide explains. See them all on the dine-in menu.
Quick answers
What is a tandoor?
A tall, bell-shaped clay oven fired with charcoal or wood. Food is cooked on skewers inside it, and breads are pressed onto its hot inner walls.
Why is tandoori chicken red?
Traditionally from Kashmiri chilli, which is bright red but mild, along with other spices in the yoghurt marinade.
Is tandoori chicken spicy?
It is well spiced but not usually very hot. Mint chutney on the side adds freshness.
What is the difference between tandoori chicken and chicken tikka?
Tandoori chicken is on the bone; chicken tikka is boneless pieces. Both are marinated in yoghurt and spices and cooked in the tandoor.
Is tandoori food healthy?
Tandoori dishes are cooked with dry heat rather than deep-fried, so they are among the lighter choices on an Indian menu.
