Tandoor conversion

[danioro]

I love tandoori everything. Looking at it I think the KK should be relatively easily converted to a tandoor, perhaps with an unglazed earthenware sleeve, like a planting pot of the appropriate size with the bottom cut off.

Has anyone ever done this? I could also see commissioning my friendly neighborhood potter to throw an appropriately sized/shaped pottery sleeve.

Hmmm....

[mguerra]

confused

How is the KK not basically a tandoor as it is?

[Syzygies]

Here's a post of mine on my favorite tandoor recipe for the KK: Tandoori Chicken. Read that thread.

More generally, I recommend the book Tandoor: The Great Indian Barbecue by Ranjit Rai. One can simplify these recipes considerably, e.g. buying a tandoori spice mix at an Indian store, but it's still better to do the dumbing down yourself, rather than having someone making simplifying choices for you. This guy is the real deal. The book is Indian, reprinted for but not aimed at our market.

There's a lot of synergy to how a tandoor works, and also to how a kamado works. One doesn't want to necessarily mix and match, any more than one would want to splice the genes of a zebra and an elephant. Rather, play around and get the results to taste good. The KK is certainly capable of the intense heat one wants. I've been using the upper rack, turning every 5 minutes at 600 F while basting with ghee. I want to try the rotisserie instead, at a lower temperature.

[T Rex]

Hey Syzygies, how would you go about making Naan bread which is conventionally cooked on the "sides" of the Tandoori or would a pizza stone work just as well.............?

T Rex

[Syzygies]

Hey Syzygies' date=' how would you go about making Naan bread ...[/quote']

We've long since stopped distinguishing between Naan bread and wheat tortillas. We grill these on a stove. The best surface for getting them to balloon is one of those original Circulon pans that had concentric ridges. Cast iron is a close second, and more like the Mexican tradition. We grind our own flour for these, and it's hard going back, although the Indian Naan flour is very well suited to this recipe.

We eat these too frequently to start a fire each time, but the smoke would be a nice touch. I'd certainly use a pizza stone.

[danioro]

Re: confused

How is the KK not basically a tandoor as it is?

The elements of a tandoor are charcoal fire, tubular earthenware pipe with inward sloping sides above the fire, temps of around 700-800 deg F and a venturi-like effect which draws air through the fire amd up through the tube. Traditionally the naan is slapped on the inside wall of the oven to bake and puff and the meat is on skewers placed in the oven. The movement of air ensures that the meat at the top of the oven cooks at more or less the same rate as the meat closer to the fire.

The KK has the charcoal fire anr the ability to reach the desired temp, but I think that an earthenware insert above the charcoal basket would be a nice touch and better duplicate the cooking conditions.

[mguerra]

naan

I have cooked naan in the KK. Once slapped to the wall and once on a baking sheet. Comes out super. If you are ONLY cooking naan, it's a bit of a hassle to fire up the KK for that. But if you have the KK going for something else anyway, that's a good time to whip up some naan.

[Firemonkey]

There was a flurry of interest around KK naan a couple of years ago...There is a recipe in this thread:

viewtopic.php?t=1174&highlight=naan

[Gaurav Patel]

On 4/10/2010 at 12:52 PM, danioro said:

I love tandoori everything. Looking at it I think the KK should be relatively easily converted to a tandoor, perhaps with an unglazed earthenware sleeve, like a planting pot of the appropriate size with the bottom cut off.

Has anyone ever done this? I could also see commissioning my friendly neighborhood potter to throw an appropriately sized/shaped pottery sleeve.

Hmmm....

I have thought of the same thing. Just a half curved top, with the ability to still close the top of the BGE. I have been working on drawings, to even get it made. Have you had any luck or progress?