Instructions

1. Make a rub of spices and garlic to marinate spicy baked chicken, or masaledar murghi. Combine equal parts ground cumin, paprika and turmeric with half-portions of cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt. Add mashed garlic and enough freshly squeezed lemon juice to moisten the rub and form a paste. Rub the paste on the skinless chicken pieces and let them rest in a dish, refrigerated, for three hours or longer, covered with plastic wrap. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, turning once.

2. Keep your chicken whole for murgh musallam -- whole chicken baked in foil in a spicy yogurt marinade. Chop fresh ginger and garlic by hand or in a food processer, and then blend in plain yogurt to make a paste. Add turmeric, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper, and blend with a spatula. Add a bit more yogurt to the paste and blend by hand. Remove the skin from the chicken except for the wing tips and rub it inside and out with the paste. Allow the chicken to rest chilled for two hours before baking fully enclosed in foil for 90 minutes at 350 F.

3. Mix flour, egg, crushed garlic, grated ginger, yogurt, a ground red chili, garam masala, ground cumin and salt and pepper to make a marinade for murgh pakora -- fried chicken, Indian style. Make two or three slits in each piece of chicken. Fully coat each piece of chicken, working the marinade into the slits, and let the chicken rest in the refrigerator for six hours. Remove from the fridge and deep fry for 12 to 15 minutes.

4. Try your hand at chicken tikka masala as well -- it’s not as authentically Indian as the other dishes, as it is tandoori chicken modified by English diners to add curry sauce. You simply mix garlic, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, cumin and coriander, along with yogurt and salt. Add the chicken and let it rest, chilled and covered, for up to six hours. Remove the chicken from the fridge and broil for 10 minutes, then simmer in a onion-and-chili-flavored tomato sauce for eight to 10 minutes.