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DictionarytandooriIndian clay-oven cooking
adjective / noun

tandoori

tahn-DOOR-ee/tˌændˈuri/

Food cooked in an Indian clay oven or seasoned in that style.

The restaurant serves tandoori chicken with warm bread and yogurt sauce.

A clay tandoor shown in a slightly elevated view, with skewered chicken cooking inside its open mouth and a small plate of finished, lightly charred chicken beside it, directly connecting the food with its cooking oven.
Etymology
tandoorUrdu or Punjabicooking stove
+iUrdu or Punjabirelating to

The adjective identifies food by its association with the tandur, a charcoal-fired clay oven. The oven name itself is a regional word of uncertain origin.

In context

Highland Radio Ireland20:02
some Tandoori fish bites with yogurt sauce
It’s Thursday's Nine til’ Noon Show with Greg Hughes – How has your week been going?

More examples

  • We order tandoori for the whole table.
  • She coats the cauliflower in tandoori seasoning before roasting it.
  • Traditional tandoori cooking uses a very hot clay oven.

Forms

tandoori

tandoor noun — A clay oven used in Indian cooking.

Similar words

grilled
Describes cooking over direct heat, without specifying an Indian oven.
roasted
Describes dry-heat cooking without requiring Indian seasonings or a tandoor.