Tandoori describes Indian food — usually chicken, lamb, or flatbread — cooked in a tandoor, a deep clay oven that gets extremely hot. The meat is first left sitting in yogurt mixed with spices, often for hours, and then cooked fast against the hot clay wall, so the outside gets a little charred while the inside stays soft. Classic tandoori chicken comes out red or orange on the outside; that colour is from spices and, honestly, often from food colouring too, not from the fire.

Tandoori describes Indian food坦都里是用來形容印度食物的 — usually chicken, lamb, or flatbread通常是雞肉、羊肉，或是麵餅 — cooked in a tandoor用一種叫 tandoor 的爐子烤的, a deep clay oven that gets extremely hot那是一種很深的陶土爐，會變得非常燙。 The meat is first left sitting in yogurt mixed with spices肉會先泡在混了香料的優格裡, often for hours常常泡好幾個小時, and then cooked fast against the hot clay wall然後靠著滾燙的陶壁快速烤熟, so the outside gets a little charred while the inside stays soft讓外層有點焦、裡面卻保持軟嫩。 Classic tandoori chicken comes out red or orange on the outside經典的坦都里烤雞外表是紅色或橘色的; that colour is from spices and, honestly, often from food colouring too這個顏色來自香料，老實說也常常來自食用色素, not from the fire而不是來自火烤本身。

Grammatically it usually sits in front of the noun: tandoori chicken, tandoori prawns, a tandoori oven. It can also be a noun for the dish itself ('we ordered a tandoori') or for the oven, though in Taiwan you will mostly meet it on menus as the adjective.

Grammatically it usually sits in front of the noun文法上，它通常放在名詞前面: tandoori chicken坦都里烤雞（tandoori chicken）, tandoori prawns坦都里烤蝦（tandoori prawns）, a tandoori oven坦都里烤爐（a tandoori oven）。 It can also be a noun for the dish itself它也可以當名詞，指這道菜本身 ('we ordered a tandoori')（像是「我們點了一份 tandoori」） or for the oven或指那個爐子, though in Taiwan you will mostly meet it on menus as the adjective不過在台灣，你在菜單上大多會看到它當形容詞用。

One useful thing to know: because tandoori cooking is dry-heat, a tandoori dish is not a curry — there is no sauce. Learners who assume all Indian restaurant food is 'curry' get surprised when the plate arrives with no gravy on it. And note that naan bread is also tandoori food, even though people think of the word as meaning meat.

One useful thing to know有一件事值得知道: because tandoori cooking is dry-heat因為坦都里的烹調方式是乾式高溫烤製, a tandoori dish is not a curry所以坦都里菜不是咖哩 — there is no sauce沒有醬汁。 Learners who assume all Indian restaurant food is 'curry' get surprised以為印度餐廳的菜全都是「咖哩」的學習者會很驚訝 when the plate arrives with no gravy on it當端上來的盤子上完全沒有醬汁的時候。 And note that naan bread is also tandoori food另外要注意，naan（烤餅）也是坦都里食物, even though people think of the word as meaning meat雖然大家常常以為這個字指的是肉類。