These smoky Tandoori chicken wings, marinated in Indian spices and yogurt and grilled to perfection, will blow your mind away! The wings are succulent and juicy on the interior and crispy on the outside.
This chicken wings recipe is a flavor bomb. It is perfect to serve to a party for game day or just for any get together.
I love that it is so easy to prep ahead of time. You can marinate the chicken wings the day before, and just cook them when ready to serve.
If you are making them for a party, cook in the oven, or in the air fryer when making a small quantity.
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What is Tandoor?
Tandoori style cuisine is an Indian method of cooking over a traditional charcoal fire in a cylindrical clay oven called a Tandoor.
To heat this tandoor, a charcoal fire is built inside of it and allowed to burn for several hours. Modern Tandoors, however, use cooking gas and electricity instead of charcoal.
The Tandoor method can be used to prepare a variety of meat and vegetable dishes as well as different types of flatbreads such as Tandoori Roti, Tandoori Naan, Tandoori Laccha Paratha, and many more.
Tandoori cooking is popular throughout a wide geographical area, with many variants such as Punjabi style, Afghan style, Armenian style, and so on.
Tandoor-cooked meats are marinated in yogurt and spices before being threaded on long skewers that are placed vertically in the oven with one end resting in the ashes.
This recipe is an easy Indian chicken with a twist and creates the same restaurant-quality tandoori aroma and taste in your air fryer or oven (no traditional tandoor necessary).
Marination, cooking time and temperature are key in this recipe.
Ingredients
Chicken Wings: You can use either fresh or frozen chicken wings. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator if using frozen. Remove the tips of the chicken wings and split them at the joint, then wipe them dry with paper towels and use kitchen shears to trim away any excess fat.
For the Tandoori Marinade: The marinade for Tandoori Chicken Wings includes basic ingredients such as yogurt, ginger, garlic, aromatic Indian spices, and lime juice.
This marinade is super flavorful and the addition of Kashmiri red chili powder gives the chicken a gorgeous red color. The lime juice gives this chicken dish a tangy flavor that will keep your family coming back for more.
I like to add a little chickpea flour (besan) to the marinade, as it helps the marinade stick better to the chicken wings. This is an optional ingredients, so feel free to skip if you don’t have it.
How to make Spiced Chicken Wings
Prep the chicken wings: Remove the tips of the chicken wings if they haven’t already been cut, then split them at the joint. Pat dry with paper towels and use kitchen shears to remove any excess loose fat.
Make the marinade: To make the marinade, combine the yogurt, grated ginger, minced garlic, lime juice, salt, and all of the dry spices in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the contents well.
Coat the wings: Toss the wings in the marinade and combine well to ensure the wings are uniformly coated with the marinade.
Marinate: Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator. Let the wings marinade for at least 30 minutes or up-to 8 hours or overnight for a deeper flavor.
Cook: The chicken wings can be cooked in the air fryer or oven!
Air Fryer Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 370 degree Fahrenheit Place the chicken wings in the basket with no overlapping and cook them for 10-12 minutes. Turn the wings at half-time mark.
- Raise the temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and continue to cook for 3 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and golden brown.
Oven Directions
- Place the wings on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Any remaining marinade should be brushed over the wings. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit in a preheated oven.
- Remove the wings from the oven and brush them lightly with oil. Preheat the oven to ‘Broil.’ Broil the chicken wings for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until the skin is crisp and slightly charred.
- You can also cook these on the outdoor grill.
Pro – Tips
My top suggestions for preparing the tastiest Spicy Chicken Wings are as follows:
- For the marinade, use plain full-fat greek yogurt.
- To avoid any extra water in the marinade, pat the chicken wings dry.
- Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes to upto 8 hours.
- The authentic flavors are enhanced by using the perfect Garam masala. I like to use my homemade Garam Masala.
- I highly recommend to use the Indian Kashmiri red chilli powder which is mild but gives the dish the perfect red color.
- The addition of fenugreek leaves is optional, but it adds a unique flavor and aroma to the dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tandoori marinade is made with plain yogurt, minced ginger, garlic and Indian spices. Marinating the wings in yogurt and Indian spices not only tenderizes the meat, but also adds color and a nice smoky flavor !
Tikka refers to ‘bite-sized’ pieces of meat that are typically served on a skewer, whereas tandoori meats are usually large whole pieces.
The marinated chicken wings can be refrigerated for upto 8 hours or even upto 24 hours. Cooked chicken wings can be stored for up to 2 days and can be reheated before serving.
What to serve with Indian Chicken wings
- These taste best when served as appetizers/ starters with lemon wedges, Indian Onion Salad or Kachumbar salad and Mint Cilantro Chutney or Yogurt Dipping Sauce. Enjoy them with your favorite drink!
- Add it to my easy Curry Sauce for a quick delicious curry in minutes.
- Serve with Turmeric rice/ Vegetable Biryani and raita for a filling lunch or dinner.
Other Marinated recipes to enjoy:
- Easy Chicken Tikka Kebab – Flavorful chicken thighs marinated in yogurt, spices, and lemon juice then cooked in the air fryer
- Low Carb Tandoori Chicken – Chicken drumsticks marinated in yogurt, spices, and lemon juice then cooked in the air fryer
- Instant Pot Chicken Korma – Chicken marinated in yogurt and spices cooked with onions and finished with cashew paste
- Tandoori Aloo Tikka – Baby potatoes marinated in a delightful combination of yogurt and spices, threaded to skewers and cooked to create this heavenly appetizer.
- Air Fryer Tandoori Gobi – Cauliflower florets marinated in yogurt and spices and cooked in the air fryer for smoky flavor.
Am sure you are already salivating and wanting to try making them. These are so DAMN good!
Please leave a comment and let me know how you loved these quick, healthy, and gluten-free Tandoori Chicken Wings! Take a picture and post it to Instagram with #pipingpotcurry
Tandoori Chicken Wings
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Chicken Wings , boneless skinless, cut into 1.5-2 inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- Lime wedges, to garnish
- Cilantro leaves, chopped, to garnish
For marinade
- 2/3 cup Yogurt, greek (also called hung curd)
- 1 tablespoon Ginger , grated
- 1 tablespoon Garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon Lime juice
- 1 tablespoon Gram flour (Besan), optional
- 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, mild, adjust to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 2 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1 tablespoon Dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt, adjust to taste
Instructions
- If you have whole chicken wings, split at the join and discard the tips. Use kitchen shears to remove any loose skin. Pat dry with paper towels.
- To make the marinade, combine the yogurt, grated ginger, minced garlic, lime juice, gram flour, salt, and all of the dry spices in a large mixing bowl. Mix the contents well.
- Toss the wings in the marinade and combine well to ensure the wings are uniformly coated with the marinade.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator. Let the wings marinade for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours or overnight for a deeper flavor.
AirFryer Method
- Preheat the air fryer to 370 degree Fahrenheit. Lightly grease the air fryer basket.
- Place the chicken wings in the basket with no overlapping and cook them for 10-12 minutes. Turn the wings at half-time mark. You might need to cook in batches.
- Raise the temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and continue to cook for 3 more minutes, or until the skin is crispy and golden brown.
- Garnish with cilantro. Serve warm with lime wedges along with mint cilantro chutney to dip.
Oven Method:
- Preheat the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the wings on a lightly greased grilling rack. Place the rack on top of a baking tray. You can line the tray with parchment paper or aluminum foil to catch any drippings. Any remaining marinade can be brushed over the wings.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until done. Now change the oven setting to broil. Broil the chicken wings for 4-5 minutes or until the skin is crisp and slightly charred.
- Garnish with cilantro. Serve warm with lime wedges along with mint cilantro chutney to dip.
Video
Neeta – by some happy accident of the internet, I stumbled across your website over the weekend, and I made these tandoori chicken wings tonight with your coriander-mint chutney. Hands down the best chicken-anything I’ve ever made. Wow! Thank you!
Also, sorry Meeta not Neeta!
Thanks for this recipe, Meeta — it was really good and simple. I’ve been cooking scratch Indian preparations for years and have all the spices, so it was easy-peasy 😉 My only reco is have the butcher cut up the wings — it’s not easy and takes some time. Bone-in and skin-on is fine. Just ‘ditch the tips’. And, DO NOT SKIP the kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves) — magic ingredient!! Thanks again.
Hi Chuck – You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Hi Meeta, this recipe looks delicious. Can you use chicken drumsticks or thighs with this recipe and if so, what would be the cooking time in an airfryer? Many thanks.
Hi Brit – Here is my recipe for drumsticks in the air fryer – https://pipingpotcurry.com/tandoori-chicken-air-fryer/ and if you are using chicken thighs, I like to cut them into small pieces and make chicken tikka kebab – https://pipingpotcurry.com/indian-chicken-tikka-kebab/
Thank you so much.
i love your recipes and sent them to friends and family all of the time. Made the Tandoori chicken wings, they’re now a weekly staple in our house. Thank you for expanding my desi recipe palate, i was getting bored!!!!
Hi Annie – So happy to hear you are enjoying the recipes.
It’s a nice recipe, loved it
Hi Milkio – Glad to hear you enjoyed the tandoori wings!