Chinese Five-Spice Tandoori Chicken with herb rice is an easy-to-make dinner ideally suited for the small NESCO cooker, the grill, or the air fryer.
Five-Spice Powder
Five-spice powder is a spice mix often used in Chinese cooking. The five flavors of the spices (sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and savory) refer to the five traditional Chinese elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. A standard mixture is:
- Star anise (bājiǎo 八角)
- Cloves (dīngxiāng 丁香)
- Chinese cinnamon (ròuguì 肉桂)
- Sichuan pepper (huājiāo 花椒)
- Fennel seeds (xiǎohuíxiāng 小茴香)
You can buy five-spice at your local supermarket or make your own and play with the ingredients. I don’t like star anise, so I omit it and increase the fennel seed instead.
How to Cook Chinese Five-Spice Tandoori Chicken
Tandoori chicken is usually cooked in an Indian Tandoor, a large, urn-shaped oven made of clay. They get very, very hot and cook very, very quickly.
For those who don’t have a real Tandoor, this recipe is excellent for an outdoor grill, a Weber grill preferred, a Nesco 6-quart roaster, or a rotisserie air fryer. The rotisserie air fryer is best as it moves the chicken so all sides get cooked evenly with a bit of browning.
What to Serve
Garnish the dish with either sliced tomatoes or small cherry or grape tomatoes. A small bowl of Chutney is also an excellent accompaniment for this. Instead of the herbed rice, you could serve Tomato Rice Pilaf.
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Chinese Five-Spice Tandoori Chicken
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs, or legs
- 1 ½ cup Plain Yogurt, not a sour one
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tablespoon five-spice powder
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried cilantro leaves
- 1 teaspoon *dried red onion
Herbed Rice
- 1 cup Rice, Converted preferred
- 1 teaspoon cilantro leaves, dried
- 1 teaspoon red onion, dried
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon *Beef Base
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, important
Instructions
- Mise en place
- Remove the cooking well and preheat the Nesco to 450 °F (232 °C). If you are using an outdoor grill, this would be the time you would get heat the grill.
- 6 chicken thighsPat the chicken pieces dry. If you are using chicken legs, you will want to score them. Put the rack into the cooking well.
- 1 1/2 cup Plain Yogurt, 2 tablespoons curry powder, 1 tablespoon five-spice powder, 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, 1 teaspoon dried cilantro leaves, 1 teaspoon dried red onionMix the spices with the yogurt and let that stand for about 5 minutes so the flavors meld.
- Dip each piece of chicken in the sauce and ensure it is well coated.
- Let the pieces marinate in the refrigerator while the Nesco is heating up, about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Put the chicken pieces in the NESCO’s cooking well on the rack, then put the cooking well into the Nesco oven itself.
- Cook until the chicken is done and slightly browned about 40 minutes.
- If you use an air fryer with a rotisserie basket, put the chicken in the basket; otherwise, put the chicken on a rack, set it at 380 °F, and cook it for 20-25 minutes.
- For the outdoor grill, use indirect heat and cook the chicken for 20-25 minutes.
- Use an instant-read thermometer to check for doneness. The chicken is done when it reaches 160 °F (71 °C)
Herbed Rice
- 1 cup Rice, 1 teaspoon cilantro leaves, 1 teaspoon red onion, 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon Beef Base, 1 teaspoon unsalted butterPut the rice and dry spices in a bowl and set aside. Put the water into a 1-quart pan, add the beef base and butter, and bring it almost to a boil.
- Stir and add the rice, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes or until the water is all absorbed.
Nutrition
When I watched an ancient Iron Chef from the original series, where everything was dubbed on May 7, 1999, it featured a famous chef in Japan, Takeshi Ōkubo, who specialized in Chinese cuisine. He was up against the Chinese Iron Chef, Chen Kenichi. The Iron Chef did not win :-(, but it did give me some ideas for dinner.
It had been hot and muggy in Los Angeles. I didn’t want to get my house hotter than it was – the evaporative cooler was going full blast. Nesco to the rescue.
I had some chicken thighs and yogurt in the freezer. I was getting a whole bunch of spices when I saw the curry jar and decided to use it. That’s when the Chinese aspect hit me; I also have a long-forgotten Chinese Five Spice powder jar. You would not believe how good this thing smells.
Nice post. Very informative.