Oven-Roasted Tandoori-Inspired Jerk Chicken
I like using yogurt in chicken marinades. With the right proportions and marinating periods, it subtly tenderizes meat and enhances its natural flavor, texture and juiciness without imparting any yogurt flavor.
The acid and cultures also help marinade penetrate more quickly and effectively, seasoning the flesh to the bone without creating that brined-like cured texture that often occurs when meat is left to sit in a salty solution for a long time.
It's similar to the result you get with buttermilk, but more efficient because the lower liquid content reduces the amount of seasoning needed and also lessens the amount of liquid uptake into the protein that can, counterintuitively, cause an internal steaming effect during cooking that can actually ultimately result in a drier and/or spongier texture to the meat.
You can grill this chicken low and slow as you would any other Jerk Chicken preparation, but sometimes the oven is just easier, so I added some liquid smoke to the marinade and did a high heat roast (450F) instead. Not tandoor-level heat by any stretch - they can get up to about 900F if I recall correctly - but it produces a pretty tasty and consistent result.
My recipe is adapted from a Saveur Jerk Chicken recipe, but you can modify your favorite Jerk recipe by adding 1/2 a cup of yogurt, 1 tsp of kosher salt, and 1 tsp of sugar.
Cook time: 15 mins prep, 6 to 24 hrs to marinate, 60 mins to cook
Oven-Roasted Tandoori-Inspired Jerk Chicken
I like using yogurt in chicken marinades. With the right proportions and marinating periods, it subtly tenderizes meat and enhances its natural flavor, texture and juiciness without imparting any yogurt flavor.
The acid and cultures also help marinade penetrate more quickly and effectively, seasoning the flesh to the bone without creating that brined-like cured texture that often occurs when meat is left to sit in a salty solution for a long time.
It's similar to the result you get with buttermilk, but more efficient because the lower liquid content reduces the amount of seasoning needed and also lessens the amount of liquid uptake into the protein that can, counterintuitively, cause an internal steaming effect during cooking that can actually ultimately result in a drier and/or spongier texture to the meat.
You can grill this chicken low and slow as you would any other Jerk Chicken preparation, but sometimes the oven is just easier, so I added some liquid smoke to the marinade and did a high heat roast (450F) instead. Not tandoor-level heat by any stretch - they can get up to about 900F if I recall correctly - but it produces a pretty tasty and consistent result.
My recipe is adapted from a Saveur Jerk Chicken recipe, but you can modify your favorite Jerk recipe by adding 1/2 a cup of yogurt, 1 tsp of kosher salt, and 1 tsp of sugar.
Cook time: 15 mins prep, 6 to 24 hrs to marinate, 60 mins to cook
Cooking Instructions
- 1
Place all the marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. If you want to make extra dipping sauce, reserve 2/3 cup of marinade and set aside.
- 2
With cooking gloves on (because of the habaneros), put chicken in a large mixing bowl or other container and pour the remainder of the marinade over it, mixing it gently but thoroughly to evenly season each piece.
A gallon Ziploc type bag is great for even marinating - specially if you lay all the meat in a single layer, suction all the air out of it, and lay it on its side in the fridge. Even then, you may wish to flip the bag halfway through the marinating time just to make sure.
- 3
Let chicken marinate for at least 6 and up to 24 hours.
- 4
An hour before cooking, take the chicken out of the fridge and lay it in a single layer on either a sturdy sheet pan (not cookie sheet) with a grill rack over it (my preferred method) or on a broiler pan with slats, skin side up, and let it come up to room temp. I mention this often, but bringing your protein up to room temp results in a better outer sear, which results in more internal juiciness.
- 5
20 mins before cooking, preheat your oven to 450F. Put the chicken on the center rack of the oven & roast for 45 to 55 mins, depending on the size of your chicken pieces. The chickens I use are usually about 4 pounds, & their drums and thighs aren't all that big, so 45 mins was plenty for me.
If you buy drums & thighs in your typical supermarket pre-pack, it's likely that your chicken is bigger and will require somewhere between 50 to 55 minutes.
- 6
IF YOU'RE MAKING THE DIPPING SAUCE...
Preheat a small sauce pan to medium with a half Tbsp of oil in it, pour in the reserved marinade, bring to a gentle boil for 1 minute, then turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for another 3 or 4 minutes. Because that marinade hasn't touched chicken, technically you don't have to cook it for food safety purposes, but the caramelization and concentration of flavors that happens when you do this deepens and rounds out the sauce.
- 7
That's it! Enjoy. :)
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