Spicy Chicken Roast

When we think about Chicken Roast, the picture that comes in our mind is an aromatic, mildly –spiced, rich piece of tender, juicy chicken piece. Today I will share with you a little spicier version of Chicken roast, which is equally flavourful and has that rich Mughlai texture.

This preparation is done in two simple steps: first we will lightly fry the chicken pieces, marinated with lemon juice and salt, in oil or ghee. Then we will make a gravy from the paste of all the ingredients listed under gravy mix. And once the gravy is semi-cooked, we will add the fried chicken pieces into the gravy and cook in slow flame until done. I find following this very simple process yields a wonderful result and makes this apparently complicated dish an easily achievable one. I can guarantee if you follow this recipe, you’ll not be disappointed.

Ingredients:

Chicken – 1( cut in quarter)

Lemon Juice – 1 tbsp.

Salt

For the gravy mix:

Yogurt- 1/3 cup

Fried Onion(Bereshta)- ½ cup

Ginger-garlic Paste – 1 tbsp. each

Cumin Powder – 1 tsp.

Coriander Powder – ½ tsp.

Green Chili – ¾ (or according to spice tolerance)

Red chili powder – ¼ tsp (mainly for colour)

White Pepper – 1 tsp.

Nutmeg – ¼ tsp.

Mace – ¼ tsp.

Shah Jeera – 1 tsp.

Garam Masala- 1 tsp.

Raisins - 5/6

Cashew/Almonds – 15/20 (can be substituted by peanut)

Poppy Seed – 1 tsp.

Salt

Oil + Ghee – ¾ cup

Cardamom – 3/4

Cinnamon – 1 big stick

Long – 3 to 4

Bay Leaves – 2

Method:

- Marinate the chicken pieces with lemon juice and salt. Keep it aside for 30 mins. You can use orange food color if you wish to. I generally do not use any food color and color looks nice.

- While chicken is marinating, make the gravy mix. Put all the ingredients under gravy in the bowl of a blender and add some water. (See note 1). Make a smooth paste. Add little more water if needed.

- Heat half a cup oil and ghee in a non-stick pan. You can only use oil or only ghee, too. Put the chicken pieces in the oil and fry in medium heat for 3-4 mins and turn. Fry the other side for another 3-4 mins until the chicken pieces are slightly brown. Do not over fry them. - Add little more oil+ghee and temper all the whole spices until they stop splattering.

- Pour in the gravy paste in it and keep cooking it until oil starts to separate from the side.

- Put the chicken pieces in the gravy and stir gently. Pour in 1 ½ cup of hot water. Cook it covered in slow to medium flame. The chicken should be fully cooked in 30 mins. Keep stirring and turning the chicken pieces time to time to avoid scorching.

Serve your chicken roast with some fried onion sprinkled on top. Enjoy with some polao or paratha or even with plain rice.

Notes:

1. You can make your own fried onion or use the store bought one. It works fine. To make fried onion at home, take 2 medium onions and finely chop them. Then deep fry them until golden brown. Drain and use.

2. Do not fry the chicken too much. Over frying will make the chicken pieces hard and dry.

3. You can use mawa and rose/kewra water at the end to make this dish even richer and decorate with some chopped pistachios. I omit that part as I find it equally tasty without adding anything extra.