There is a flavour you can hardly recreate in your own kitchen: that fine, smoky aroma a piece of chicken or a fresh naan takes on when it comes out of a real clay oven. That, exactly, is tandoori. The name stands for everything prepared in the tandoor, the traditional oven that gives Indian cuisine one of its most distinctive flavours. Anyone who has once tasted meat straight from the tandoor quickly understands why this method is regarded as one of the noblest in Indian cooking. In this article you will learn what makes a tandoor special, where it comes from, which dishes it produces and why tandoori tastes best fresh and on the spot.
What a Tandoor Is
A tandoor is a bulbous oven made of clay, fired from within with charcoal. Its shape recalls a large jug, wide at the bottom and narrowing towards the top. This construction is no accident. It stores the heat and channels it upwards, so that very high temperatures build up inside, often well above four hundred degrees. The thick clay walls hold this heat evenly and release it slowly.
This enormous heat is the secret of the tandoor. Meat is browned tender on the outside in a short time, while it stays juicy within. Bread sticks to the hot oven wall and rises in a matter of moments, airy and dotted with fine bubbles. Add to this the smoke of the charcoal, which gives every dish its unmistakable note. This interplay of great heat and smoke is almost impossible to reproduce in an ordinary kitchen oven.
A Short History of the Tandoor
The tandoor is ancient. Similar clay ovens were already in use thousands of years ago in various regions of Asia. Over the centuries the oven found its firm place in the north of the Indian subcontinent, especially in the Punjab region. From there, tandoori cooking became one of the best known faces of Indian cuisine.
Above all it was Tandoori Chicken that grew famous, beginning its triumphant rise in the last century and known around the world today. From the same tradition comes the popular Chicken Tikka. What connects these dishes is the oven that gives them their character. A tandoori dish is therefore always a piece of living culinary history.
How a Tandoori Dish Comes to Be
Good flavour from the tandoor begins long before the oven. At the start there is the marinade. Classically the meat is first rubbed with lemon and salt, after which a second marinade of yoghurt and spices is added. The yoghurt makes the meat tender and helps the aromas sink deep in. Ginger and garlic add spice, joined by seasonings such as cumin, coriander, turmeric and paprika.
Now it takes patience. The meat rests in the marinade for several hours before it is threaded onto long skewers and hung in the oven. Only this resting time makes a tandoori dish so juicy and aromatic. In the oven itself everything then happens fast. The great heat cooks the meat in a short time and lays down that smoky crust which makes the typical flavour.
What Comes Fresh from the Tandoor
The tandoor can do far more than a single dish. These classics are the ones you will meet most often:
Tandoori Chicken
The best known of them all. Chicken is marinated in yoghurt and spices, takes on its typical colour and cooks in the oven into tender, aromatic meat with a smoky edge. A dish that for many is the very essence of Indian cuisine.
Chicken Tikka
Tender pieces of boneless chicken, marinated and cooked on the skewer. A fine introduction for anyone who likes things juicy and well spiced. From Chicken Tikka comes, incidentally, the world famous Chicken Tikka Masala, in which the grilled pieces are served in a creamy sauce.
Seekh Kebab
Finely spiced minced meat, shaped by hand around the skewer and roasted in the tandoor. Hearty, juicy and full of flavour. A classic that goes down especially well when shared at the table.
Paneer Tikka
The vegetarian version. Cubes of Indian fresh cheese steep in a spice marinade and then go into the oven, lightly browned outside and soft within. Proof that tandoori does not depend on meat.
Fresh Naan and Roti
No tandoori meal without bread. Naan rises straight on the oven wall and comes warm to the table, soft and airy. It is ideal for soaking up sauces and aromas. It simply belongs with every Indian meal.
The Spices Behind the Flavour
What makes tandoori so unmistakable is, alongside the oven, the interplay of the spices. Ginger and garlic form the savoury base. Cumin and coriander give warmth and depth, turmeric brings colour and a fine earthiness. Paprika and sometimes a little chilli lend the characteristic reddish note one associates with tandoori.
Over all of this often lies a pinch of Garam Masala, that warm spice blend of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and further seasonings which shapes Indian cuisine. Combined with the smoke of the charcoal, a flavour arises that is complex and harmonious at once. No single ingredient pushes itself to the front, everything plays together.
How to Enjoy Tandoori at Its Best
A tandoori dish tastes wonderful on its own, yet with the right company it becomes rounded. Classically it is served with a fresh mint chutney, whose freshness nicely balances the smoky aromas. A few raw onion rings and a squeeze of lemon bring extra freshness. Warm naan goes well with it, to soak up every last bit of the sauce.
A cooling raita, the yoghurt with cucumber or spices, rounds the whole off and softens the warmth of the seasonings. What emerges is an interplay of smoky, fresh and creamy that shows off the character of tandoori cooking to perfection. Anyone who then wants to keep exploring the variety of Indian cuisine will find inspiration among the most popular Indian curries and with the biryani from Bern.
Why Tandoori Tastes Best on the Spot
Tandoori lives in the moment. Fresh from the oven the meat is at its most tender, the naan at its airiest and the smoky scent at its most intense. On the way home a part of this magic is lost, the bread loses its warmth and the crust its tension. That is why tandoori is a dish best enjoyed at the table, barely a moment after it has left the oven.
Herein lies the special appeal of a visit. You experience tandoori the way it is meant to be, straight from the clay oven onto the plate. You cannot get this flavour from an ordinary kitchen. Precisely for that reason the trip to the restaurant is worth it.
The Most Popular Kinds of Naan
Naan is the ideal companion to everything that comes out of the tandoor. And there is far more than one kind. The classic Butter Naan is brushed with a little butter and tastes wonderfully soft. Garlic Naan gets fresh garlic and a touch of coriander, which suits spicy curries particularly well. Anyone who likes things hearty reaches for Cheese Naan, filled with melted cheese. For all who enjoy a slightly sweet note, there is Peshwari Naan with nuts and dried fruit.
Each kind has its own character. It is often worth sharing several at the table. That way everyone tastes their way through and finds their favourite. Fresh from the oven naan is best in any case, soft, warm and with fine bubbles that carry the smoke of the tandoor within them.
Tandoori or Curry: The Difference
Many people wonder how tandoori and a curry differ. The answer lies in the preparation. A curry is a dish with sauce, slowly braised and often creamy or spicy. Tandoori, by contrast, comes dry from the oven, grilled rather than braised, with a smoky crust rather than a silky sauce. Both belong to Indian cuisine, yet they stand for two quite different experiences.
The finest thing is to combine the two. A tandoori dish as an aromatic start, together with a curry, rice and naan as the main course. That way you get to know the full range, from the grill in the clay oven to the braised sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions about Tandoori
Is tandoori always spicy?
No. Tandoori dishes are above all aromatic and smoky, not necessarily hot. The heat can be adjusted, entirely to your taste.
Is there a vegetarian tandoori too?
Yes. Paneer Tikka and grilled vegetables from the tandoor are fine vegetarian alternatives.
What goes best with it?
Fresh naan, a mint chutney, onions, lemon and a cooling raita complement tandoori ideally.
Enjoy Tandoori at India4U in Bern
At India4U, tandoori comes from a real clay oven, just as tradition intends. Our chef brings more than 40 years of experience and knows exactly when the meat is tender and the naan is perfect. Since 2008 we have stood at Belpstrasse 11 in Bern for authentic Indian and Pakistani cuisine, home-made and halal-certified. More than 700 guest reviews with an average of 4.3 stars show that the trip to us is worth it.
You will find us just a few minutes’ walk from Bern railway station, with opening hours at lunchtime, in the evening and on Sundays too. Tandoori is best experienced fresh at the table. Take a look at our menu, secure your seat through our booking or learn more about an evening with us on the page Indian food in Bern.
We look forward to cooking for you, straight from the clay oven, in the heart of Bern.