Tandoor
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A tandoor (Azerbaijani: Təndir, Bengali: তন্দূর, Turkish: Tandır, Arabic: تنور, Punjabi: ਤੰਦੂਰ, Georgian: თონე, Persian: تنور, Hindi: तन्दूर, Urdu: تندور, Armenian: Թոնիր) is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Southern, Central and Western Asia, in the Caucasus and the Balkans.[1]
The heat for a tandoor was traditionally generated by a charcoal or wood fire, burning within the tandoor itself, thus exposing the food to live-fire, radiant heat cooking, and hot-air, convection cooking, and smoking by the fat and food juices that drip on to the charcoal.[1] Temperatures in a tandoor can approach 480°C (900°F), and it is common for tandoor ovens to remain lit for long periods to maintain the high cooking temperature. The tandoor design is something of a transitional form between a makeshift earth oven and the horizontal-plan masonry oven.
The word tandoori is the adjective meaning "pertaining to the tandoor" and is used to describe a dish cooked in a tandoor. It is thought to have travelled to Central Asia and the Middle East along with the Roma people, who originated amongst the Thar Desert tribes. In India, the tandoor is also known as a bhatti. The Bhatti tribe of the Thar Desert of northwestern India and eastern Pakistan developed the bhatti in their desert abode, and thus it gained the name.[citation needed] The tandoor is currently a very important fixture in many Pakistani/Indian restaurants around the world. Some modern day tandoors use electricity or gas instead of charcoal.
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[edit] History
The oldest examples of a tandoor were found in the settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, though earlier tandoor-type ovens have been recovered in early-Harappan contexts on the Makran coast, including the mound site of Balakot, Pakistan. In Sanskrit, the tandoor was referred to as kandu. The word tandoor comes from the Dari words tandūr and tannūr; these are derived from very similar terms, viz. Persian tanūr (تنور), Armenian t’onir (Թոնիր), Arabic tannūr (تنّور), Turkish tandır, Azeri təndir and Kurdish tendûr. However, according to Dehkhoda Persian Dictionary, the word originates from Akkadian tinûru, and is mentioned as early as in the Akkadian Epic of Gilgames (as reflexed by Avestan tanûra and Pahlavi tanûr). As such, tandoor may not have originated from Semitic or Iranian altogether, dating back to periods before the migration of Aryan and Semitic people to the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia.[2]
[edit] Tandoori cuisine
The tandoor is used for baking flatbreads and cooking certain meat dishes.[3]
[edit] Flatbread
Many regional varieties of flatbread, such as tandyr nan, tonis puri, afghan bread, lavash, are baked in the tandoor.
[edit] Tandoori chicken
Tandoori chicken is a roasted chicken delicacy that originated in northwestern India.[4] The chicken is marinated in a yogurt seasoned with garam masala, garlic, ginger, cumin, cayenne pepper, and other spices depending on the recipe. In hot versions of the dish, cayenne, red chili powder, or other spices give the typical red color; in milder versions, food coloring is used.[5] Turmeric produces a yellow-orange color. It is traditionally cooked at high temperatures in an earthen oven (i.e. tandoor), but can also be prepared on a traditional grill.
[edit] Chicken tikka
Chicken tikka (Hindi: मुर्ग़ टिक्का; Urdu: مرغ تکہ ; murgh tikka) is a South Asian dish made by grilling small pieces of chicken which have been marinated in spices and yogurt. It is traditionally cooked on skewers in a tandoor and is usually boneless. It is normally served and eaten with a green coriander chutney, or used in preparing the curry chicken tikka masala.
[edit] Kalmi Kabab
Kalmi kabab, a popular snack in Indian cuisine, is made by marinating chicken drumsticks and placing them in a tandoor. Various kinds of freshly ground Indian spices are added to the yogurt used for the marination of the chicken. When prepared, the drumsticks are usually garnished by mint leaves and served with onions and Indian bread.
[edit] Samsa
Samsa (Samosa) is a stuffed snack consisting of a fried or baked triangular, semilunar or tetrahedral pastry shell with a savory filling, which may include spiced potatoes, onions, peas, coriander, and lentils, or ground lamb or chicken. The size and shape of a samosa, as well as the consistency of the pastry used, can vary considerably. In some regions of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Usbekistan) samsas are typically baked in a tandoor, while they are usually fried elsewhere.
[edit] See also
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[edit] Bibliography
- Curry Club Tandoori and Tikka Dishes, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0749912839 (1993)
- Curry Club 100 Favourite Tandoori Recipes, Piatkus, London — ISBN 07499149 & ISBN 0749917415 (1995)
- India: Food & Cooking, New Holland, London — ISBN 978-1845376192 (2007)
[edit] References
- ^ a b Raichlen, Steven (2011-05-10). "A Tandoori Oven brings India's heat to the backyard". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/dining/a-tandoor-oven-brings-indias-heat-to-the-backyard.html. Retrieved 5/9/11.
- ^ http://kabobcentral.com/tandoorbpage.html
- ^ Peter Barham, The science of cooking. Springer: 2001. ISBN 978-3-540-67466-5. p. 118.
- ^ "Metro Plus Delhi / Food : A plateful of grain". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2008-11-24. http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/11/24/stories/2008112450160200.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
- ^ For instance, see the recipe in Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery pp66-69
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