Because football deserves flavour — and so do you.

There's something about a big Sunday match that demands a little ceremony. Not a full roast, not a slow braise, nothing that keeps you chained to the kitchen when the pundits are warming up and the line-ups are dropping. Match day calls for finger food with swagger. Something you can eat standing up, shouting at the telly, or pacing the room when Chelsea forget how to defend a set piece. Whether you call them tandoori wings, alas partidas tandoori, or just match-day gold — these are the ones.

Here in rural Andalucía, I've found the perfect candidate: this tandoori chicken wings recipe — made with Spanish alas partidas, marinated in a yoghurt and spice blend coloured a deeply satisfying red with beetroot powder, and finished on a screaming-hot cast iron sizzler plate.

What on earth are alas partidas?

If you're reading this from the UK or US, you might be picturing big, plump buffalo-style wings. Alas partidas are not those.

In Spain, wings are sold split at the joint — the drumette and flat separated — and usually smaller, thinner and quicker-cooking than their Anglo-American cousins. They're brilliant for a tandoori chicken wings recipe because they take on marinade fast, cook evenly, crisp beautifully, and don't need long in the oven. Match-day gold.

Why beetroot powder?

Traditional tandoori gets its vivid colour from artificial red food colouring. Beetroot powder does the same job naturally — and the colour it produces is, as you can see, spectacular. It's available online and increasingly in health food sections of larger Spanish supermarkets. A heaped teaspoon is all you need.

The Casa Adora Tandoori Chicken Wings Recipe

Serves 1 hungry fan or 2 normal humans

Ingredients

Chicken

• 500g alas partidas (Spanish split wings)

Marinade

• 80g Greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 heaped tsp beetroot powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 small garlic clove, grated
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• ½–¾ tsp sea salt

To serve

• 1 onion, sliced
• Fresh coriander
• Lemon or lime wedges

Method

1. Marinate — Mix everything together, coat the wings thoroughly, and chill for 2–4 hours. Bring to room temperature for 20 minutes before cooking.
2. Oven on — Preheat to 220°C (no fan).
3. Start the wings — Place wings on a foil-lined tray with a rack if you have one. Bake for 18–20 minutes.

1. Heat the sizzler — At the 10-minute mark, put your empty cast iron sizzler into the oven. It needs 20–25 minutes to get properly volcanic.
2. Flip the wings — After 18–20 minutes, flip. Cook for a further 10–12 minutes. Total wing time: 28–32 minutes.
3. Optional char — 1–2 minutes under the grill if you want deeper colour.
4. The sizzle moment — Remove the screaming-hot sizzler, place on its wooden base, scatter the onions, pile the wings on top, finish with lemon and coriander. It should hiss like the stadium when the ref misses a blatant foul.

Serve with

A cold beer. A tense build-up. And a quiet belief that this week Chelsea might actually defend properly.

These tandoori chicken wings are everything match day should be: bold, messy, loud, and gone before half-time.

If you enjoy cooking chicken wings, the collection is growing: RidgeMonkey Spicy Chicken Wings, Baked Chicken Wings with a Spicy Cupboard Marinade, Easy Buffalo Wings, Crispy Sesame Chicken Wings, Crispy Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings, Baked Chicken Wings with Sticky Honey and Hot Sauce, Slow Cooker Chicken Wings with Parsnips, and Crispy Microwave & Bake Chicken Wings Baguette.

This tandoori chicken wings recipe is part of my Chicken Recipes — The Flexible Chef's Complete Collection and my Curry Recipes — The Flexible Chef's Complete Collection. Explore both collections for more ideas.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef