These air fryer tandoori chicken legs taste just like they were cooked in a tandoor oven!
One of the great things about air fryers is that they are actually really efficient small ovens that heat up quickly and cook evenly. They are much less work to cook in than a tandoor oven! Believe me… I cook in my tandoor ovens all the time but for a quick dinner, it’s got to be the air fryer these days!
You can actually think of your air fryer as a tandoor as it does the exact same job by cooking your meat and vegetables at an intense heat until cooked through.
About this recipe for air fryer chicken legs.
This is a recipe I have wanted to try in my air fryer for some time and I finally got around to it. As many people have air fryers that only heat up to 200°C/400°F, that is the exact temperature I cooked two of the chicken legs at.
I also cooked two of the legs at 240°C/260F but found the extra heat not necessary.
The cooking chamber of most air fryers is quite small and the way the air circulates while the chicken cooks is the most important part of tandoori chicken perfection.
This air fryer chicken legs recipe calls for a simple but delicious tandoori marinade and it can literally be whipped up in about 30 minutes. That said, allowing the chicken to marinate for 8 to 24 hours will benefit the flavour.
How can this tandoori chicken taste just like it’s cooked in a tandoor oven?
I personally have one gas tandoor oven and also a charcoal burning tandoor. If you were to use this same recipe in my gas tandoor, you would get similar if not identical results. You’d have to wait about an hour or two for the tandoor to heat up though.
I wanted these air fryer chicken legs to taste like they were cooked in my charcoal burning tandoor. Read on to see how I did it and be sure to check out the step by step photographs!
How do you give the chicken a smoky, tandoori flavour?
Your air fryer chicken legs will still be amazing if you don’t do this but it is worth the effort.
To give the chicken a smoky flavour you need to use what is referred to in Northern India as dhungar method.
Light one to two pieces of untreated lumpwood charcoal and then place the charcoal on a two ply piece of foil. It is important not to use cheap charcoal that has been treated with quick light fuel because you will taste it.
Lay the burning charcoal in your bowl with the marinating chicken. You can add spices like cloves, cinnamon and cardamom for additional flavour.
Drizzle a half tsp of oil over the burning charcoal and it will begin to smoke like crazy. Cover the bowl tightly and let it smoke until almost all the smoke has gone. Photos of me doing this are below.
How long should you marinate the chicken?
You could add the marinades and let the chicken rest for as little as 30 minutes. You might also like to go straight to cooking.
For best results, however allow the chicken to marinate for 8 hours or up to 12 hours. The longer the better.
How long can you store leftovers in the fridge.
You can keep leftovers in the fridge for about 3 days.
To heat the air fryer chicken legs up, I recommend placing them back in your air fryer basket at 200°C/400°F until heated through.
Can you freeze this recipe?
Yes. You can freeze your air fryer chicken legs up to 6 months.
To reheat, just let them defrost completely in the fridge and then heat in your air fryer basket at 200°C/400°F until heated through.
Step by step photographs.
Get all your ingredients ready before starting. It’s a lot less fussy!
Remove the chicken skin and score the chicken legs in several places on both sides.
Place the chicken in a mixing bowl and add the garlic and ginger paste, salt, oil and lemon juice. Rub this first marinade right into the flesh.
This is optional for a smoky flavour. Place burning charcoal on a two ply piece of foil into the bowl with the chicken. You can also add whole spices like cinnamon and cloves.
Drizzle a little oil on the burning charcoal. It will start to smoke like crazy. Cover the bowl with a lid. A glass lid is best so that you can see the progress.
Let it smoke until most of the smoke has stopped. Then raise the lid. Do not let the charcoal completely burn out. This should only take about 20 minutes.
Now add the remaining marinade ingredients to the chicken and rub it in. Allow to marinate for 8 to 24 hours for best results.
spray the cooking basket with cooking oil spray and place the chicken in to air fry at 200°C/400°F for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!
If you like these air fryer lamb chicken legs, you might like to try some of these air fryer recipes too.
Air Fryer Whole Tandoori Chicken
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Air Fryer Tandoori Chicken Legs
You will get great results with this air fryer tandoori chicken leg recipe. You can smoke it using the method below but that is optional.
Ingredients
- 4 large chicken legs with thighs, skin removed
- FOR THE MARINADE
- Juice of two lemons
- 1 tsp rapeseed (canola) oil
- 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 1 tablespoon salt
- red food colouring (optional)
- 120g Greek yoghurt
- 1 to 2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder (more or less to taste)
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Score the chicken legs in several places on both sides and place in a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, oil, garlic, ginger and chilli paste and if you want your chicken legs to be bright red, add the food colouring which adds no flavour and it optional and I didn't add colouring this time around. Set aside.
- This next step for smoking the chicken is optional. If you do not want to smoke the chicken, jump to step 6.
- Light one to two pieces of untreated lumpwood charcoal and then place the charcoal on a two-ply piece of foil. It is important not to use cheap charcoal that has been treated with quick light fuel because you will taste it.
- Lay the burning charcoal in your bowl with the marinating chicken. You can add spices like cloves, cinnamon and cardamom for additional flavour.
- Drizzle a half tsp of oil over the burning charcoal and it will begin to smoke like crazy. Cover the bowl tightly and let it smoke until almost all the smoke has gone. Do not let the charcoal completely burn out as it will give off a bad flavoured smoke.
- Whisk the yoghurt and all the remaining ingredients together until smooth. Pour this over the chicken and rub it right into the flesh. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes to 24 hours for optimum flavour or go straight to cooking.
- Preheat your air fryer to 200°C/400°F. Lightly spray your cooking basket with oil and then place the chicken in the basket. If you have an air fryer with two cooking chambers, you can cook it all at once. If not, you might need to cook in batches. Just wrap the first batch with foil to keep it warm and then cook the second batch.
- Place the chicken in your airfryer and air fry for 18 to 20 minutes, turning at the halfway point. The chicken is ready when the juices run clear when pricked with a knife or you could and should play it safe by using a meat thermometer. Chicken is cooked when you reach an internal temperature of 74°C/165°F.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 408Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 31gCholesterol: 371mgSodium: 3973mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 4gSugar: 15gProtein: 75g
Margaret
Sunday 26th of May 2024
Looks like another great recipe Dan. My airfryer/mini oven doesn't have drawers it has a tray and shelves ,chip basket and rotisserie which is perfect for whole chickens. My question is would this recipe work if I cooked it on the tray?
Dan Toombs
Wednesday 29th of May 2024
Yes, I think it should work cooked on the tray. Thanks Dan