TANDOORI COOKERY

an Indian method of cooking over a charcoal fire in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven. Shaped like a large urn, a tandoor is at least one metre in height and is often sunk up to its neck in the earth. Tandoori cooking is believed to have originated in Persia and is found in some form throughout Central Asia. A charcoal fire is built in the tandoor and allowed to burn for several hours to heat the oven. Meats cooked in the tandoor are marinated in yogurt and spices and threaded on long skewers that are placed vertically in the oven with one end resting in the ashes. The meats are coloured a bright orange-red by a natural dye, tandoori rang, added to the marinade. Nan, a leavened wheat bread, is formed into ovals and pressed against the inner neck of the tandoor to bake suspended over the fire. The most celebrated dish in tandoori cookery is tandoori murgh, skinless marinated whole chicken quickly grilled in the tandoor.