Badami Tangdi is an Indian spiced chicken drumstick grilled with a silky smooth marinate made from creamy almond paste! The result is simply heavenly!
Badami tangdi was a real discovery! While browsing through one of many cook books of my collection, I stumbled upon this recipe of Badami tangdi in one of chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe book.
It instantly tempted me to give a try as I was pretty sure that the delicious looking Badami tangdi would turn out quite amazing! The fact that its marinate is very different from the classic tandoori chicken is what attracted me the most.
The marinate of this grilled Badami tangdi i.e. chicken drumsticks is based on almond paste. Almond, which is called ‘Badam’ in Hindi and hence the name ‘Badami Tangi’, itself is full of nutty flavor and its creamy paste takes the grilled chicken drumsticks to a whole new level which would simply blow your mind once you try this Badami tangdi on your own!
Grilling is not something which we have seen our moms or grandmoms doing. It is fairly a new technique in Indian cooking scenario. But I simply love grilling!
The charred awesomeness of grilled chicken is just out of the world and the possibilities of creating new recipes are truly endless and only limited by your imagination!
This Badami tangdi is one such gem and sure to please you and anyone you treat this with! Cooking, in general, gives me immense pleasure and frees me off any stress & anxiety of daily life.
Grilling, in particular, gives me additional joy as I enjoy each step starting from preparing the marinating mixture, rubbing the chicken with the prepared marinate, arranging the marinated pieces on grill tray and finally shoving them inside a preheated oven on griller. And then patiently waiting for the magic to happen!
Grilling is truly a very therapeutic process from start to end and becomes extremely enjoyable when you have a group of friends & relatives gathered for a barbeque party! If you are planning to host a barbeque party soon, then bookmark this Badami tangdi recipe please!
Trust me, everyone will freak out on this silky-smooth grilled chicken drumsticks flavored with amazing Indian spices which we are calling Badami tangdi! ‘Badami’ is a derived word from ‘badam’ which means nut or specifically almond in this case; ‘tangdi’ means leg which is chicken drumsticks in this recipe.
That’s how Badami tangdi materialized which symbolizes nothing but a great recipe from the great Indian cuisine!
This Badami tangdi kabab is not a spicy kabab; but has a mild hint of sweetness due to the almond paste. The almond paste also adds creaminess to the marinade and after being grilled it sticks to the chicken drumsticks making them extra-tasty.
For this recipe of grilled chicken, I would recommend to use only chicken drumsticks as they suit best in this. Chicken breast won’t give you very good result in this case; chicken thigh may work but still I would go for chicken drumsticks; after all that’s why it is called Badami tangdi!
There are ample grilled/roasted chicken recipe available in our blog which uses various cuts of chicken; in case you are looking for grilled chicken thighs, I am sure you will find many options here that would suit you. Happy grilling!
- Chicken legs – 4
- Chat masala – ½ tsp
- Lemon juice – ½ tbsp
- Salt – ½ tsp
- Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
- Lemon juice – 2-3 tbsp
- Yogurt – ½ cup
- Thick cream – 2 tbsp
- Almond paste – 2 tbsp
- Dry fenugreek leaves (Kasuri methi) – 2 tsp
- Cornflour – 2 tbsp
- Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 tsp
- Salt – ¾th tsp
- Fresh coriander leaves – t tbsp
- Melted butter – 3 tbsp
- White pepper powder – 1 tsp
- Kasuri methi – 2 tsp
- Onion rings
- Wash and pat the chicken legs dry. Make two incisions on each leg.
- For the first marinade, mix together the salt, chilli powder and lemon juice; marinate the chicken legs in the mixture for half an hour.
- For the second marinade, mix together the yogurt, cream, almond paste, dried fenugreek leaves cornflour, ginger-garlic paste, salt and fresh coriander in a bowl.
- Remove the chicken legs from the first marinade and place them in the second marinade. Marinate for at least two to three hours, preferably in a refrigerator. You can marinate the chicken legs overnight too.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 or heat a gas tandoor over a medium heat for fifteen minutes.
- Place the marinated chicken legs on the greased wire rack and cook for fifteen minutes.
- For the basting sauce, melt the butter, add the white pepper powder and dried fenugreek leaves and mix.
- Turn the chicken legs once and baste with this mixture. Grill for another eight minutes, or till cooked.
- Serve the gorgeous badami tangdi with green mint chutney and onion rings, sprinkled with chat masala and lemon juice.
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