Group · Herbs & spices
Tandoori spices
Tandoori spices take their name from the tandoor, the clay oven of the Punjab in which meat cooks at a very high temperature, pressed against the wall. The blend combines cumin, coriander, ginger, garlic, paprika and often a red colouring, natural or not, which gives the characteristic hue.
On nutrition facts: 327 kcal per 100 g, 12.6 g of protein, 37.8 g of carbohydrate and 27.7 g of fibre, the values of the Ciqual entry « Spice (average food) », since no blend is measured separately. For a marinade, that is not the point anyway.
Macronutrient breakdown
Nutrition table per 100 g
| Calories | 327 kcal |
| Kilojoules | 1370 kJ |
| Protein | 12,6 g |
| Carbohydrate | 37,8 g |
| Fat | 7,9 g |
| Fibre | 27,7 g |
Micronutrients per 100 g
All measured nutrients, ranked by share of the daily reference intake.
- Manganese13,6 mg680 %
- Vitamin K1116 µg155 %
- Iron18 mg129 %
- Copper0,93 mg93 %
- Potassium1430 mg72 %
- Calcium479 mg60 %
- Magnesium186 mg50 %
- Vitamin E4,76 mg40 %
- Vitamin B9dietary folate equivalents26,3 µg
See the other 14 nutrients
- Vitamin B51,65 mg28 %
- Phosphorus190 mg27 %
- Omega-3 ALA0,53 g27 %
- Vitamin B60,31 mg22 %
- Selenium9,18 µg17 %
- Zinc1,63 mg16 %
- Omega-6 LA1,49 g15 %
- Vitamin B10,12 mg11 %
- Vitamin B31,52 mg10 %
- Vitamin B20,09 mg6 %
- Iodine9,12 µg6 %
- Vitamin A46,1 µg6 %
- Vitamin C4,29 mg5 %
- Vitamin D0,09 µg2 %
Anses Ciqual 2025. Source: Anses, 2025, Ciqual food composition table
Tips
The yoghurt marinade is the heart of the method. The spices alone do not penetrate the meat. Mixed with plain yoghurt and a squeeze of lemon juice, they cling to it and the acidity tenderises the fibres. Two hours is enough, overnight is better.
It is a lean way of cooking, and that is the point. A tandoori chicken is marinated and then roasted with no added fat: the yoghurt does the job that oil would do. Allow one tablespoon of spices, or 6 g, for 500 g of meat, which is about twenty kilocalories for the whole dish.
The colouring is pointless. The bright red of industrial versions often comes from an added colouring, not from the spices. A blend without colouring gives a more subtle orange tint and exactly the same flavour. It is the only useful sorting criterion on the shelf.
Check the salt. Many shop-bought tandoori blends are salted, sometimes heavily, which completely changes the salt content of the finished dish. Read the label before salting the marinade.
Beyond meat. The same treatment works on cubes of tofu, cauliflower florets or chickpeas, which take up the marinade just as well and turn crisp in the oven.
Sources
Average nutrition values per 100 g, given for guidance (spices are eaten in small amounts).