Making Tandoori Chicken just got a whole lot easier with this Air Fryer Tandoori Chicken recipe. Get all those smokey, spicy, tangy flavors without a traditional tandoor oven with my secret tips.
This year, something I really wanted to crack was how to achieve that authentic tandoor flavor while cooking with an Air Fryer. Making my favorite tandoori recipes healthier and quicker is the ULTIMATE hack – and I’m so thrilled to have cracked the code!
I’m going to share with you my top secrets on how to make the most perfect Air Fryer Tandoori Chicken. It’s smokey, spicy, and super juicy. You’ll be surprised at just how good this turns out!
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Ingredients Overview
We use chicken legs for this recipe as they remain tender and juicy through the cooking process, but any cut of chicken works here.
For the marinade, we need whisked curd, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt, kasuri methi, lemon juice, and some mustard oil.
A key addition to the ingredients list in this recipe is long charcoal, which we use to smoke the marinated chicken for that tandoori flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Final cook time will vary from brand to brand, so a little trial and error will be necessary to find the exact timings for your air fryer. It takes me between 10-12 minutes in my air fryer, at the temperature settings mentioned in the recipe card.
This chicken will turn out best if made right after smoking the marinade. But you could marinate the chicken ahead and smoke it before cooking (make sure to let it rest in the smoke for 30 mins) before air frying.
Absolutely! However, skipping the smoking step will change the flavor profile a bit as the chicken will taste more baked. But the recipe will work just fine!
If you’re somebody who loves a weeknight meal centred around protein, then this Air Fryer Tandoori Chicken is for you. It takes less than 20 minutes to cook after marination and turns out just like the traditional tandoori-style preparation. Probably one of my most favorite things to make in my air fryer!
I’ll be posting more Air Fryer Recipes all month so be sure to stay tuned for those! Don’t forget to check out my Tandoori Paneer Tikka and Tandoori Prawns recipes for more tandoori fixes!
If you try out this recipe, send me your recreations over on my IG @my_foodstory. I’ll see you with the next recipe 🙂
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Marinating chicken
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Take all ingredients for chicken marinade except chicken in a bowl & whisk them to combine all the ingredients. Add chicken legs, toss it well in the marinade till chicken gets coated well.
2 chicken whole legs, 3 tablespoons whisked curds, 1 ½ teaspoons ginger garlic paste, ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, 3 teaspoons kashmiri chilli powder, ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ teaspoon roasted & crushed kasuri methi, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 ½ tablespoons mustard oil
Dhungar / smoking chicken
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Place charcoal on the gas flame and heat it for 5-6 minutes till it turns red.
2-3 inches long charcoal
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Meanwhile, keep a small steel katori or bowl in the centre of the marinated chicken bowl & keep a proper lid for the marinade bowl to trap the smoke.
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Hold the hot charcoal with tongs and put it in the bowl, pour oil on it and immediately cover the lid. Rest it for 3 minutes, discard the charcoal bowl and keep the marinated chicken resting for 30 mins – 1 hour.
¼ teaspoon oil or ghee
Air frying tandoori chicken
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Preheat airfryer to 180C. Brush the airfryer tray with oil.
1 – 2 teaspoons cooking oil
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Place the marinated chicken legs on the tray & air fry for 10 minutes at 180C & another 2 minutes at 200C. Do not flip the chicken at any point of time.
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Take them out of the airfryer immediately and serve.
- Chicken whole legs is the most suitable for tandoori chicken, which may be replaced with chicken drumsticks.
- Mustard oil is used for its authentic smokiness which gives a distinct flavour to the dish. Alternatively, you may use any neutral-flavoured vegetable oil.
- Do not leave the chicken lying in the airfryer once its done as it will turn soggy.
- Airfryer timings may vary as per the settings.
Calories: 276kcal, Carbohydrates: 0.2g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 120mg, Sodium: 108mg, Potassium: 262mg, Vitamin A: 119IU, Vitamin C: 0.3mg, Calcium: 12mg, Iron: 1mg
This article was researched and written by Navya Khetarpal.
