Bold tandoori-style flavour, made simple
An Indian clay oven uses fierce heat, smoke and radiant cooking to give meat, fish and bread a charred surface with a tender centre. Few UK homes have a tandoor, but you can use the same principles in your oven, air fryer or frying pan to make tandoori-style food at home.
Our ready-made dry marinades cut out the measuring, mixing and messy preparation. Coat your chosen chicken, lamb or beef, fish or king prawns, then leave it to marinate for 45 to 60 minutes before cooking. No egg, yoghurt, oil, or lemon needed.
A tandoor is a deep clay oven with an open top. The cook lights charcoal or wood at the base, then controls the heat through the opening and lower vent. The clay walls absorb heat and radiate it back towards the food.
Cooks thread meat onto long metal skewers and lower it into the oven. The intense heat cooks the outside fast, while the skewer helps conduct heat towards the centre. Fat and marinade may drip onto the fuel, producing brief bursts of smoke that add flavour.
Cooks also press naan and roti against the hot inner wall. The clay cooks the side touching the wall while heat from the centre blisters and colours the exposed surface.
Communities across India, Pakistan and neighbouring regions have used tandoors for meat, flatbreads and shared meals. Restaurants now use clay and metal-lined tandoors to prepare dishes such as tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, seekh kebabs, lamb kebabs and naan.
A domestic oven, air fryer or pan cannot copy all the effects of a clay tandoor. A tandoor surrounds the food with radiant heat while smoke and hot clay shape its crust. Home appliances use different heat sources and airflow.
Use a rack where the cut permits. The rack lifts the food above its juices and lets heat reach more of the surface. Leave gaps between each piece and turn the food during cooking when your method requires it.
A tandoor stores intense heat in its clay walls. Those walls radiate heat towards the food while hot air rises through the oven. Meat develops a roasted crust before the centre loses too much moisture.
A home oven gives you a related form of radiant cooking. A preheated tray or rack helps the surface colour. An air fryer moves hot air around smaller pieces, while a frying pan puts the food in contact with a hot cooking surface.
Tandoor cooks leave space between pieces on each skewer. Crowded meat traps moisture and slows browning.
Use the same rule at home. Spread pieces across the rack, air-fryer basket or pan without letting them overlap. Cook in batches if you need more room.
Cut meat into pieces of a similar size. Mixed sizes cook at different rates, which can leave small pieces dry before thick pieces reach a safe centre temperature.
Fat and loose marinade can drip onto hot fuel in a tandoor. A cook controls the vents and watches the skewers to prevent sustained flames.
At home, remove excess coating that would fall from the food and burn. Place a lined tray beneath an oven rack to catch drips. Keep the food away from exposed heating elements and follow your appliance manual.
An overhead grill can add colour at the end if your appliance and chosen cut suit that method. Stay beside the oven, use heatproof gloves and stop if the coating begins to burn or smoke fills the kitchen.
Start with pieces that suit your appliance. Boneless chicken pieces, lamb or beef strips, fish fillets and king prawns cook with less guesswork than large joints or thick bone-in cuts.
Never place cold glass cookware into a hot oven. Use a metal roasting tray that can handle the required heat.
Air fryers work well for chicken pieces, lamb or beef strips, fish fillets and king prawns. Keep the temperature at 160°C maximum.
Loose coating can touch the heating element and produce smoke. Press the marinade onto the food and remove clumps that have not adhered. Do not line the basket in a way that blocks the airflow unless the appliance manufacturer permits it.
Pan-frying suits lamb or beef strips, boneless chicken pieces, firm fish fillets and king prawns.
Hot marinade and meat juices can spit. Use a pan with high enough sides, keep the handle turned away from the edge and protect your hands.
You can apply our marinade directly to dry meat, fish or king prawns. If you want more grip, lightly wet the surface with water first. This step remains your choice.
Avoid rinsing raw chicken under a running tap. Splashing water can spread bacteria across your sink, worktop and utensils. If you choose the water method, dampen the surface without creating splashes, then wash your hands and clean the surrounding area.
No egg, yoghurt, oil, or lemon needed.
Preparation and cooking times vary with the protein, cut, thickness and appliance. Follow the packet directions and check the centre before serving.
Use our Southern Fried Chicken Marinade for chicken pieces, strips or fillets. It suits family dinners, fakeaway-style meals and sharing plates.
Cook coated chicken in the oven, air fryer or pan, using a method that suits the cut. Bone-in pieces take more time than small boneless strips, so check the thickest section and avoid touching the bone with your thermometer.
Choose our Tandoori Masala for Chicken Marinade when you want a spiced tandoori-style chicken meal without mixing yoghurt, citrus and separate spices.
It works with boneless chunks, breast, thigh pieces or drumsticks. Pieces with different sizes need separate cooking checks. Give larger bone-in cuts enough time to cook through without burning the coating.
Our Tandoori Masala for Lamb Marinade suits lamb or beef. Use it for cubes, strips, chops or kebab pieces that match your chosen cooking method.
Thread lamb or beef cubes onto skewers with small gaps between the pieces. If you use wooden skewers, follow their pack instructions and keep them away from exposed heating elements. Metal skewers grow hot from end to end, so handle them with heatproof gloves.
You can air fry, pan fry or oven-cook your fish. Firm fillets hold their shape during turning, while delicate white fish needs support from a fish slice or spatula. King prawns suit quick cooking, so take them off the heat once the flesh turns opaque and the centre reaches a safe temperature.
For another cooking route, try our fish marinade for air fryer.
A working tandoor reaches temperatures that can cause severe burns and ignite nearby materials. Place an outdoor tandoor on a stable, heat-resistant surface with clearance from fences, branches and buildings. Never use a charcoal or wood-fired tandoor inside your home, garage, shed or tent. Burning fuel produces carbon monoxide.
Keep children and pets away from the oven. Use long tools, heatproof gloves and closed footwear. The rim, outer walls, skewers and lid can retain heat after cooking.
Control the airflow with the tandoor vents and add fuel in measured amounts. Large additions can raise the heat and create flames. Keep loose clothing away from the opening and never lean over it.
Let the oven cool before removing ash or cleaning the interior. Follow the manufacturer’s care instructions, since sudden temperature changes and excess water can crack clay.
High heat can colour the outside before a thick piece cooks through. A food thermometer gives you a stronger check than surface colour.
Open a window or use your extractor fan if cooking produces smoke. Stop cooking and investigate if the marinade burns, fat reaches a heating element or your appliance releases more smoke than expected.
Build a family meal with basmati rice, warm flatbreads and a crisp salad. Add sliced cucumber, tomato and red onion for contrast with the spiced coating.
Chutney-style accompaniments, pickled onions and a cooling dip work well on a sharing table. Check the ingredients and allergens in each side dish if you cook for someone with dietary requirements.
For a quick weeknight dinner, serve masala chicken with rice and salad. Put lamb or beef strips into flatbreads with crunchy vegetables, or serve oven-cooked fish with rice and a spoonful of chutney.
At a BBQ-style gathering, arrange chicken, lamb or beef kebabs, tandoori fish and king prawns on separate platters. Keep serving utensils with their own dishes and bring food out in batches rather than leaving it at room temperature.
Our recipes take inspiration from home-style family cooking. The original idea came to our founder, Ayaz, in a dream: create marinades that give busy cooks bold flavour without a cupboard full of ingredients or a long preparation process.
We developed Ever East for family dinners, BBQs and food lovers who want authentic-tasting meals at home. You choose the protein, coat it and leave it to marinate for 45 to 60 minutes. The oven, air fryer or pan handles the next stage.
Read our founder story marinades to discover where the idea began.
Yes. A conventional oven, air fryer or frying pan can produce a browned spice coating and a juicy centre. These appliances do not recreate the full heat, smoke or radiant effect of a clay tandoor, but they provide a practical route for home cooking.
Use a rack in the oven where suitable, avoid overcrowding and check the centre before serving. Keep an air fryer at 160°C maximum.
No egg, yoghurt, oil, or lemon needed. Apply the Ever East marinade directly to dry meat, fish or king prawns. You can lightly wet the surface with water first if you want to help the coating cling.
Leave the coated food in the fridge for 45 to 60 minutes. Keep it covered and separate from ready-to-eat ingredients. Cooking time then depends on the protein, cut, thickness and appliance.
Yes. Our Tandoori Masala for Lamb Marinade works with lamb or beef. Choose strips, cubes, chops or kebab pieces that suit your cooking method.
Cod, haddock, salmon, sea bass, tilapia, basa and other white fish fillets work with our Tandoori Masala for Fish Marinade. You can also use king prawns.
Firm fish fillets handle turning with less risk of breaking. Support delicate fillets with a spatula.
Yes. You can air fry, pan fry or oven-cook fish and king prawns. Keep the air fryer at 160°C maximum, leave gaps around the food and check the centre before serving.
Use baking paper or another lining that your appliance manufacturer approves. A rack can hold meat above the tray and reduce contact with cooking juices.
Press the coating onto the food and shake off loose clumps. Do not pour used marinade from the raw-food container over the tray.
Trim large pieces of excess fat, remove loose marinade and keep food away from exposed heating elements. Use a tray beneath an oven rack to catch drips.
Never leave food under an overhead grill without supervision. For a fuel-fired tandoor or BBQ, control the airflow and move the food away from flames if fat causes a flare-up.
Check the thickest piece with a clean food thermometer. Poultry and minced meat should reach 75°C for 30 seconds or another safe time and temperature combination set out in current UK food-safety guidance.
Fish should turn opaque and separate under gentle pressure. King prawns should lose their translucent centre. Cooking time alone cannot account for differences in cut size, starting temperature and appliance performance.
Choose your Ever East marinade for chicken, lamb or beef, fish or king prawns. Coat your food, marinate it in the fridge for 45 to 60 minutes and cook it with the appliance you already own.
No egg, yoghurt, oil, or lemon needed.
Shop our 100g marinade packets and start your next home-cooked meal.
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