Air-Fryer Tandoori Chicken Drumsticks

Tandoori chicken comes from a clay oven (the tandoor) where charcoal heat reaches 480°C and chicken cooks in 8–10 minutes with proper char. The home cook doesn't have a tandoor. The air fryer at 200°C isn't a tandoor either, but it does produce the high circulating heat needed for proper edge-charring on chicken — closer to the real thing than an oven.

The technique is mostly about the marinade. Yogurt is the non-negotiable base — its acid tenderises while its protein clings to the chicken and chars beautifully. Add ginger, garlic, garam masala, a tandoori masala blend (most supermarkets carry one), and lemon juice. Overnight is best — 24 hours is the magic mark — but 4 hours minimum.

The colour of the finished chicken is the tandoori signature. Real tandoori uses Kashmiri chilli powder or food colour for the deep orange-red. We use a combination of smoked paprika + Kashmiri chilli (or regular chilli) — natural colour without the additive.

The photo shows four deeply blistered drumsticks in the air-fryer basket: dark orange-red surfaces with visible charred edges where the marinade caramelised, the bones visible at the cut ends. The takeaway dish made at home.