Letters written in to Independent about Oregon's food cooked in a clay oven (8)
I believe the answer is:
tandoori
'cooked in a clay oven' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'letters written in to independent about oregon's' is the wordplay.
'letters' becomes 'and' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'written in' is an insertion indicator.
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'about' says to put letters next to each other.
'oregon' becomes 'OR' (abbreviation).
'and' put into 'to' is 'tando'.
'i' after 'or' is 'ori'.
'tando'+'ori'='TANDOORI'
'food' is the link.
This may not be correct. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tandoori that I've seen before include "Type of Indian cooking" , "Clay oven cooking style" , "Indian cooking in clay oven" , "dish" , "Clay-oven cookery" .)