The heart of Indian barbecue is the tandoor, a handsome, barrel-shaped oven of fine clay - traditionally bound with grain husks and animal hair - that recalls the vessel in which Ali Baba hid out from those persistent 40 thieves. The cook ignites a charcoal fire on the floor of the oven and the heat rises to a searing level midway up, only to cool down by the time it reaches the top. Everything from chicken to lamb to fish to bread is slipped into this versatile chamber, emerging not long after with an earthy taste and fragrance imparted by the clay walls. Meats and fish come out moist and tender thanks to the intense heat and quick cooking.
Alas, the oven's curvaceous form is usually out of sight, whether sunk into the earth, as in old-fashioned Indian homes, or built in stainless steel housing, the style preferred by Indian restaurants from New Delhi to to Berkeley. You can get a peek at the mouth of one of these countertop tandoors and its consummate cook at any Indian Restaurant around the world or at the more modest Indian Restaurant in your neighborhood, where exhibition kitchens make watching the action easy.
