Tandoori chicken Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Tandoori chicken
Chicken tandoori in Mumbai, India
Course	Appetizer or Main course
Place of origin	British India
Region or state	Punjab region
Created by	Kundan Lal Gujral, Kundan Lal Jaggi
Main ingredients	Chicken, dahi (yogurt), honey, tandoori masala
Variations	Tandoori paneer, Fish tandoori

Tandoori chicken is a yummy chicken dish. It's made by cooking chicken that has been soaked in yogurt and special spices. This cooking happens in a tandoor, which is a big, round clay oven. This tasty dish first came from the Indian subcontinent. Now, people all over the world love it!

The History of Tandoori Chicken
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The History of Tandoori Chicken

Ancient Beginnings

Tandoori chicken might be a very old dish! Some experts think it started way back in the Harappan Civilization, around 3000 BC. An archaeologist named Professor Vasant Shinde found old ovens at Harappan sites. These ovens look a lot like the tandoor ovens used today in Punjab.

They also found chicken bones with burn marks. This suggests people cooked chicken a long time ago. Ancient writings also talk about cooking meat in ovens with spices.

How it Became Popular

The tandoori chicken we know today became popular in the Punjab region. This was before India was divided. In the late 1940s, two people named Kundan Lal Jaggi and Kundan Lal Gujral made it famous.

They owned a restaurant called Moti Mahal in New Delhi, India. They were from Punjab and helped make this dish a favorite. The original Moti Mahal restaurant was started by Mokha Singh in Peshawar. Peshawar is now part of Pakistan.

Tandoori Chicken Around the World

Tandoori chicken started appearing on menus in the United States in the 1960s. It became quite popular there. It is said that Jacqueline Kennedy ate "chicken tandoori" on a flight in 1962.

Recipes for tandoori chicken were even printed in newspapers like the Los Angeles Times. This helped more people learn how to make and enjoy this delicious dish.