Holy moly, a thing and idea of beauty! Tandoori in any form is just one of the best things ever. It’s been one of my favourite foods for as long as I can remember. Seeing a ‘Tandoori Fried Chicken’ sign as I walked down the street absolutely captivated me, and I had to try it, even though I was literally on my way to have dinner.
I ordered the smallest and cheapest thing on the menu, the ‘bites’. Only $8.99, and honestly, it’s a crazy generous portion for the price. It took a little longer than expected to come out, but when it did, it was fresh and super, super hot. Unable to wait, I tucked into the chicken (burning my mouth, be careful out there kids!), but I just didn’t care. The moment I bit into it, I got all those authentic tandoor flavours and I was in love.
The fried element does two things. It adds texture, so you get some crunch! Not too much, not that overcooked, over-breaded, break-your-teeth KFC crunch, just a nice addition to the mouthfeel.
You also get some super juicy, succulent chicken. Some tandoor stuff can be a bit dry, having a rub and then cooked in an oven can suck up all the moisture, but this fry really keeps that in, so you get the flavour of the tandoor with the juiciness of fried chicken. I was in heaven, honestly.
The generous serving of accompanying sauce was on the money. A garlic yogurt that again is reminiscent of authentic Indian flavours, with subtle hints of what I couldn’t figure out, whether it was coriander or mint or both, but it was light, subtle, fresh, and complemented the chicken beautifully.
This was a really simple place offering simple options, but for me, as a tandoor lover, it was absolutely perfect, and I’m scared that I may just live on this forever now and never eat anything else.
I just had that one small serving, but I can’t wait to get a Mandi, which also looked really generous and super tasty.
Amazing work, guys.