Tandoori Chicken Saute with Mushrooms

I have previously heralded the advantages of spice mixes, but this post will center around spice pastes. Cooking with spice pastes is, is possible, even easier than mixes because often, all you need is a protein and the paste itself and you're good to go. This particular recipe is a little bit more involved than mixing two ingredients together, but worth it! More people are probably familiar with Tandoori Chicken, the bright red roast chicken ubiquitous at all Indian buffets. While its true that tandoori is generally a roast, named after the oven its cooked in, I find that the tangy spice blend also works very well in curries.  

A traditional tandoor oven

2 pounds of boneless chicken, cut into 1-2 inch cubes
2 tbsp of Ghee (or butter or oil)
10 oz of baby bella mushrooms, cut in halves. 
1 medium white onion, cut into strips
2 tbsp yogurt
4 tbsp Tandoori paste
Juice from 1/4 of a lime
Salt and pepper to taste


1. Marinate the chicken in a mixture of the tandoori paste, yogurt and lime juice. Minimum 1 hour, but the longer the better. 

2. Prep the mushrooms and onions while you wait

3. Warm up half the ghee up in a pan on medium to low heat. Add the onions. Fry till the onions are translucent and soft. A little browned but not burnt. You should still be able to easily separate the strands. Remove from heat and put aside.

4. Add the rest of the ghee to the pan. You can reuse the same pan as long as there are no burnt bits left over. Once the ghee is hot, add the chicken and mushrooms and stir fry quickly. 


5. After the initial sear, the meat may start to water a little bit. At this point, turn the heat to low, and cover. Cook for about 20 min or until the chicken is just cooked through, but still soft. 


6. Take off the cover, turn the heat to high and reduce the water until the sauce is clinging to the mushrooms and chicken. There should only be about a tablespoon of excess sauce. At this point, add the onions back in. Stir for a few minutes and then remove from heat. Both the meat and the onions can be a little browned at this point.


7. I like to plate the onions first and then pile the chicken and mushrooms around them 

This is best eaten with naan, chapatis or other breads. It works with rice, but there just isn't enough gravy to coat the rice properly.

Enjoy!