Serendipity and cooking go hand in hand . I truly believe some of the best recipes are born purely be chance with some amount of willingness to try something new. This Masala Roast Chicken recipe is one such. I will tell you why. I was hosting some friends for dinner and decided to make Chicken Dum Biryani. I marinated the chicken the night before as per the recipe. Next morning the desi in me went into an overdrive and I ended up making a couple of more items than my original plan and by the time I got done I realised that Chicken Biryani was not complementing any of the dishes on the menu and maybe too many choices would lead to people not savouring and enjoying any dish as much. Hence the Biryani plan was canned after consultation with the husband.
But the meat had been marinated already! What was I to do with it? Making another curry wasn’t an option as I had already made two of those. So,I decided to make a dry preparation which wouldn’t be as dry as a tandoori recipe but would be great with rotis. And that is how this Masala Roast Chicken happened. The marinade with yogurt and lime adds a slight tang which compliments the heat from the spices perfectly well.While the taste test before serving it to the guests was assuring,icing on the cake was when one of them commented that it reminded her of her mom’s fried chicken. That compliment meant so much. People like me who cook meals for family and friends on a daily basis crave for nothing more than kind words of appreciation and thats all.
Well! I hope I have not raised your expectations a tad too much with the above description but I truly believe this is a keeper of a recipe. And an extremely simple one at that . Nothing would make me happier than you trying it out for yourself and sharing your feedback. Do tag me @onewholesomemeal on Instagram when you do end up making this recipe.
Ingredients
- For Marinade:
- Chicken, cleaned and cut to desired size- 700 gms
- Yogurt-2 tablespoons
- Ginger-garlic paste- 1.5 tablespoon
- Chicken Biryani Masala- 2 teaspoons
- Garam Masala-1 teaspoon
- Red Chilli powder-1 teaspoon (optional)
- Turmeric powder- 1 teaspoon
- Chopped coriander-1 tablespoon
- Chopped mint-1 tablespoon
- Lime juice- 1 tablespoon
- Salt- 1 teaspoon
- Mustard oil-1.5 teaspoons
- For Roasting:
- Onions, chopped fine length-wise- 2.5 cups
- Curry leaves- 3 tablespoons
- Green chilies -2 (optional)
- Cumin seeds- 1.5 teaspoon
- Oil or ghee for roasting- 1 tablespoon plus extra
Instructions
- For Marinade: Mix the ingredients for the marinade well with the chicken making sure all chicken pieces are well covered with the marinade. Do not hesitate in using your hands and massaging the ingredients in really well into the chicken. Works wonders, trust me!Cover and refrigerate for 8-10 hours. Since we are not using any additional spices during the roasting process, spices in the marinade need sufficient time to flavour the chicken well so do not cut down on time.
- For Roasting: In a thick bottomed deep wok, heat oil or ghee and temper with cumin seeds and curry leaves. When the seeds and leaves start to splutter and release an aroma, add chopped onions and green chilies (if using) and reduce the flame to medium high and roast the onions till brown. Then add the marinated meat and continue to roast on a medium flame till done. You could also add a few teaspoons of ghee while roasting to enhance the flavour of the dish. Pleas note that this preparation requires cooking uncovered with constant stirring. If you would like your meat with extra char you could also grill it in a oven at 200 degrees for 10 minutes once its cooked through on the stove top. You might need to brush some more oil on the chicken pieces before getting them into the oven depending on how dry they look.
Notes
As always, chicken recipes taste best with thighs and drumsticks.Breast would taste great too but there would be a slight difference and you might need to add extra oil (fat) to soften it out.
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