Tantalizing \r\nTandoori Truths\r\n\r\nHave you ever wondered, “Where does the word tandoori come from?”. Maybe you’ve even tried making your own at home, but could never quite get that restaurant taste? The reason is because the restaurants prepare tandoori items , along with various breads in a tandoor. The tandoor is probably the most important feature of Indian restaurants around the world. The word tandoori is an adjective meaning “pertaining to the tandoor” and is used to describe a dish cooked in a tandoor. \r\n\r\nA tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. It is used for cooking in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Transcaucasus, the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia, as well as India, and Bangladesh. The heat for a tandoor is traditionally generated by a charcoal fire or wood fire, burning within the tandoor itself, thus exposing the food to both live-fire, radiant heat cooking, and hot-air, convection cooking. Temperatures in a tandoor can approach 480 °C (900°F), and it is common for them to remain lit for long periods of time to maintain the high cooking temperature. Some modern day tandoors use electricity or gas instead of charcoal. \r\n\r\nThe tandoor is used for cooking certain types of Afghan, Pakistani and Indian, foods such as tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, and bread varieties like tandoori roti and naan. It is thought to have travelled to Central Asia and the Middle East along with the Roma people, who originated amongst the Thar Desert tribes. \r\n\r\nThe tandoor is also known by other names - \r\n• In India, the tandoor is also known by the name of bhatti. The Bhatti tribe of the Thar Desert of northwestern India and eastern Pakistan developed the Bhatti in their desert abode, and thus it gained the name. \r\n• In Armenia, It is known as a tonir which is a widely used method of cooking barbecue and lavash bread. \r\n• In Georgia it is called a tone and is used for bread and kebab.\r\n\r\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandoor\r\n