A tandoor is a clay-lined well that holds serious heat and gives it back all at once. Everything good about a kebab or a naan happens in the first ninety seconds inside one.
Heat from every direction
Because the walls are clay and the fire sits at the bottom, food cooks three ways at once: radiant heat off the walls, convection up the chimney, and direct fire below. Skewers go in vertically, fat drips onto the coals, and the smoke that rises back is part of the seasoning. A grill can char; only a tandoor can char, smoke and roast in one pass while keeping the inside juicy.
Bread works on the same principle in reverse — dough is slapped straight onto the wall, blisters in seconds, and is hooked out before it dries. That is why naan from a tandoor is soft and freckled, and why it should be eaten within minutes of arriving.
What to order from ours
Lamb chops for the char, tandoori shrimp for the sweetness, malai tikka when you want mild and creamy, sheekh kebab when you want spice, and whole Tandoori Pomfret when you want the table to go quiet. The Mixed Platter puts most of them on one sizzling plate — it is the fastest way to understand our kitchen.
Order breads to arrive with the gravies rather than the kebabs, so nothing sits. The whole list is on the menu page.
The tandoor can come to you
For larger events we set up a live tandoor counter on-site: kebabs and breads cooked in front of your guests, which solves both the timing problem and the entertainment problem at once. Live chaat, Indo-Chinese wok and dessert counters work the same way.
Ask about counters when you plan catering or an event in our dining room.
Tamarind & Co., 1275 South River Road, Cranbury, NJ 08512 · (609) 598-1397