Air Fryer Tandoori Chicken Thighs

Tandoori Chicken is traditionally made in a tandoor oven. This recipe mimics the tandoor charred flavor using an air fryer! Bone-In chicken thighs are quickly marinated in yogurt with aromatic spices . This recipe can be made in an oven, but the air fryer makes this recipe fast and easy. Dinner was ready in less than an hour and so delicious!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Air Fryer Tandoori Chicken

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Marinating Time 10

Total Time 35

Servings

Calories 695kcal

Author Debby - www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Equipment

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1½ teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
½ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
4 teaspoons lime juice divided
4 5-ounce bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed

Instructions

For the yogurt marinade:

Combine garlic, ginger, garam masala, cumin, chili powder, oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in large bowl and microwave until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Set aside to cool slightly, then stir in ¼ cup yogurt and 1 tablespoon lime juice.

For the chicken:

Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
Using metal skewer, poke skin side of chicken 10 to 15 times.
Add to bowl with yogurt-spice mixture and toss to coat; set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine remaining ¼ cup yogurt and remaining 1 teaspoon lime juice in clean bowl; season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Air Fryer Instructions:

Remove chicken from marinade, letting excess drip off, and arrange skin side down in the air-fryer basket, spaced evenly apart. Place basket in air fryer and set temperature to 400 degrees. (I preheated my air fryer for about 10 minutes.)
Air Fry the chicken until it is well brown and the skin looks crisp, with some charring-- about 10-15 minutes depending on your Air Fryer.
Careful flip the chicken over, with tongs. Air Fry for about 10-15 minutes longer until chicken is well browned and crisp and registers 195 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes, rotating chicken halfway through cooking.
Transfer chicken to serving platter, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve with reserved yogurt-lime sauce.

Oven Cook:

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat oven to 325 degrees.
Arrange chicken pieces, scored-side down, on wire rack set in foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. Discard excess yogurt mixture.
Bake chicken until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 125 degrees for breasts and 130 for legs and thighs, 15 to 25 minutes. (Smaller pieces may cook faster than larger pieces. Transfer chicken pieces to plate as they reach correct temperature.)
After removing chicken from oven, turn oven to broil and heat 10 minutes. Once broiler is heated, flip chicken pieces over and broil until chicken is lightly charred in spots and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165 degrees for breasts and 175 for legs and thighs, 8 to 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate, tent loosely with foil, and rest 5 minutes.

Notes

Recipe source: Adapted from America's Test Kitchen "Air Fryer Perfection"

NOTE: Rather than air frying the chicken, skin side up and not flipping it, I felt there were better results by starting the chicken skin side down and then flipping over.

Nutrition