tandoor

A tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven, typically at least 1 meter (3.3 feet) tall, often sunk into the ground. It is used for tandoori cookery, a method of cooking over a charcoal fire. This cooking style is thought to have originated in Persia and is found in various forms across Central Asia.

To prepare food, a charcoal fire is lit in the tandoor and allowed to burn for hours to heat the oven. Meats, often marinated in yogurt and spices, are skewered and placed vertically inside the oven. A natural dye, tandoori rang, gives the meats a distinctive orange-red color. Leavened wheat bread, such as naan, is baked by pressing it against the inner neck of the tandoor. A popular dish is tandoori murgh, a whole chicken grilled in the tandoor.12