Tandoor ovens

Tandoori cooking refers to a style of cooking that involves the use of a tandoor oven.

Meats and vegetables are marinated in a mixture of yogurt and herbs and spices, including ones like ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, and turmeric.

The marinated food is then skewered and placed into or over the preheated tandoor oven.

The viscous marinade keeps the herbs and spices locked in place, while the intense heat quickly sears the exterior of the food.

This results in dishes that are tender and succulent, with a flavourful crust, characteristic smokiness, and slightly charred texture.

Tandoori cooking is often associated with dishes like tandoori chicken, tandoori momos, tandoor lamb, chicken tikka, and tandoori naan (bread).

A tandoor oven is a cylindrical, vertical clay or metal oven originating from South Asia.

Traditionally, it’s heated using a charcoal or wood fire, however modern commercial tandoor ovens use gas or electric heating elements.

The oven’s radiant heat quickly cooks foods like flatbread and marinated meats, charring the food and imparting a distinct smoky flavour.

Tandoor ovens are used mainly in Southern Asian, Middle Eastern and Horn of African cuisines.

The tandoor oven is heated using a charcoal or wood fire, or gas or electric heating elements.

Once the oven’s thick, well-insulated walls are hot, the food is placed into the oven through a hole in the top, which also serves as a chimney.

Flatbread dough is stuck directly to the walls while marinated meats and vegetables are skewered and placed in vertically; juices from the skewers drip into the flames, giving the food an added, smoky flavour.

Because of their design and materials, tandoor ovens have excellent heat retention and can maintain the desired temperature for extended periods.

Some ovens come with a tawa (hot plate) that can be used as an alternative to the oven.

The main types of tandoor ovens are:

Wood- and charcoal-fired tandoors: Made entirely from clay, these traditional tandoors impart the authentic flavours for which tandoori cooking is famous. They must be carefully conditioned to prevent excessive cracking and are slower to heat up. They can be above ground or partially buried. (SilverChef does not finance clay tandoor ovens, i.e. ones made wholly of clay.)

Gas tandoors: Favoured by commercial kitchens for their convenience, these ovens heat up more quickly and efficiently and offer more precise temperature control than traditional tandoors. They typically combine a stainless-steel outer shell for better insulation and an interior clay cooking drum to create authentic flavours.

Electric tandoors: Similar to gas tandoors, these use electric heating elements to achieve consistent and controlled heat. They’re suitable for kitchens where gas is not easily available. They typically combine a stainless-steel outer shell for better insulation and an interior clay cooking drum to create authentic flavours.

Rotating tandoors: Also known as rotary tandoor ovens, these specialised electric or gas-fired machines feature a rotating disk on which flatbreads such as naans, rotis, chapatis and pita bread can be quickly and easily cooked in large quantities.

Tandoor ovens are used to cook a wide range of food, including:

• meat — in most tandoori cooking, chefs use a spicy, yoghurt-based marinade to coat chicken, lamb and beef. The yoghurt’s acidity tenderises and meat and the tandoor oven’s high temperature quickly locks in the skewered meat’s juices and flavours while charring the outside.
• flatbread — dough for naan, roti, paratha and other breads adheres to the oven’s inner walls before puffing up and charring, giving the breads their distinctive taste and texture.
• vegetables — marinaded and skewered bell peppers, onions, mushrooms tomatoes are commonly used in tandoori cooking. Though they char on the outside, they remain tender on the inside and retain their natural sweetness.
• fish — it’s important to handle the fish carefully to prevent it from falling apart. Whole fish or fish fillets are often placed on skewers or special fish-grilling racks designed for tandoor cooking.
• cheese – cubes of marinated paneer (Indian cheese) can be skewered and cooked in a tandoor.

Most meals take less than 20 minutes to cook through.

Tandoor ovens can reach temperatures of up to 480oC (900oF) — significantly hotter than a regular oven.

These high temperatures are explained in part by the oven’s thick walls and insulation, which help trap and concentrate heat within the compact cooking
chamber.

Moreover, the oven’s open-top design allows excess moisture and steam to escape, preventing the buildup of steam pressure that would otherwise limit the oven’s ability to reach and maintain high temperatures.

Wood- and charcoal-fire tandoors are generally hotter than gas and electric tandoors, however due to their precise controls, the temperatures of the latter are easier to manage than those of the former.