Why is Tandoori Chicken famous all over the world?

If you think that Tandoori Chicken only became famous after the Queen of England showed her appreciation towards this dish, then you need to take a quick look at the vast number of Indian restaurants across the world to know how misinformed you are.

Firstly, chicken in itself is a popular ingredient in dishes. Tandoor is a way of cooking in a unique style earthen cooker and it is this mix of Tandoori spices and tender chicken which creates the mouth watering Tandoori Chicken. Tandoori Chicken is now a fixed item on menus across the globe even in non-Indian restaurants.

What are the other reasons for the popularity of Tandoori Chicken? After all there are hundreds maybe thousands of delicious dishes available across the globe and many of them are not even close in popularity when compared with Tandoori Chicken. Dive into this mystery a bit and the reasons are quite obvious. Some people may call it the Indian connection and some people might just consider it a coincidence that this dish is so well known all over the world!

Indians are a nomadic lot and you can find them all across the world including small pockets of humanity that you never knew existed. Like the way people manage to make room in most communities, so does their food. Tandoori Chicken’s veritable success in United Kingdom can be contributed to the Indian population which quickly introduced their British friends to the dish and today Tandoori Chicken is available in some of the typical pubs as well!

It is easy to think of socio-geographical reasons for the popularity of Tandoori Chicken but the one thing which does not come to mind right away is the actual taste of the dish. Tandoori Chicken is highly popular thanks to the fact that if cooked properly, it is an awesome dish to eat. The spices are just right and together they bring out the flavour of the chicken so well that it just melts in your mouth. The fact that the preparation of Tandoori Chicken does not need the typical Indian red pepper in dollops makes it quite acceptable to international tastes.

The rise of India in the past couple of decades has also contributed to the popularity of Tandoori Chicken. Sounds far fetched? Take a look at the number of foreigners trooping into India. Ever wondered what they eat when in India?

Tandoori Chicken is so popular that you can get TV dinners which consist of rice and Tandoori Chicken. You can even pick up all the ingredients to cook the dish at home at the local grocery shop instead of going to a specialty Indian store. The acceptance of Tandoori Chicken as an international dish is a great reason for pride and this is just the beginning considering the number of cuisines and dishes that are available in India!

Oh....the Tandoori!
Yes, like they say..'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach'...India realised the mantra...' the way to the world's heart is through its' stomach..and with a tandoori chicken'!!!
It is true, even in a small remote town in a country like Germany, one can get a ready made sauce or powder neatly packaged with instructions to make the 'tandoori' in your own home!
The aroma of a tandoori masala does have a maddening effect on your appetite and taste buds! I am yet to know a person who did not like it. I am so glad that I can make paneer, and lately tofu, with the tandoori masala and do not miss out on this delicacy, although a bit disguised in its vegetarian form! Served on a platter of a crisp green salad in the company of a feathery naan, who in the world can resist it?!
That's why, the British said "move over fish'n chips, we want tandoori"..:)) We finally did conquer the conquerers!

L, Kamla