One-pot spiced roast chicken

A classic roast chicken is a real thing of beauty, but there’s plenty of room for experimentation. This one-pot version is both easy and delicious. The chicken is stuffed with a spiced butter and cooked until crisp, then surrounded by a creamy, tikka-inspired sauce before being topped with punchy green chutney. Ditch the takeaway or long-winded roast dinner and mounds of washing-up – this all-in-one crowd-pleaser is a winner.

SERVES 4-6 PREP 30 mins

COOK 1 hr 40 mins MORE EFFORT

2 tbsp ghee or butter, softened 1 medium chicken (about 1.6kg) cooked pilau rice and naans, to

serve (optional)

For the spice mix SUBSCRIBERS use your free sachet of spice blend, or:

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp smoked paprika

1½ tsp ground turmeric

For the sauce

1 onion, chopped

4 large garlic cloves

1-2 red chillies, chopped, plus extra

sliced chillies to serve

1 large thumb-sized piece of ginger,

peeled and chopped

1 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tbsp ghee or butter

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes, blitzed in a food processor until smooth

2 tsp light brown soft sugar

3-4 tbsp double cream

For the chutney

30g cashew nuts, toasted

and chopped small bunch of coriander, plus

extra leaves to serve small bunch of mint

1 lemon, juiced

½ tsp sugar

70ml olive oil

1 Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. If you’re making the spice mix, combine all the ingredients and set aside. For the sauce, tip the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Heat the oil and ghee or butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry the spiced onion purée with a pinch of salt for 12 mins. Add 2 tbsp of the spice mix, turn up the heat to high and cook for 1 min. Tip in the tomatoes, sugar and 250ml water. Bring to a simmer. Season well with salt and turn off the heat. 2 To prepare the chicken, put the remaining spice mix in a bowl with 1 tsp sea salt and the ghee or butter, and mash together. Push two-thirds of the spiced butter beneath the skin of the chicken breasts, then rub the rest over the outside of the breasts and legs. Season the chicken skin with 1 tsp sea salt and tie the legs together. Sit the chicken in a 28-30cm pan, shallow casserole or roasting tin and pour the sauce around the bird. Cover the chicken with foil and roast for 40 mins, then remove the foil and roast for another 30-40 mins, or until cooked through (when you cut into one of the legs, the juices should run clear). Stir the double cream into the sauce. Taste for seasoning and leave to rest, uncovered, for 10 mins. 3 Make the chutney by blitzing all the ingredients together in a food processor until coarse. Season to taste.

4 Top the chicken with some extra sliced chillies and coriander leaves, then serve with the chutney, pilau rice and naan, if you like.

GOOD TO KNOW vit c • 2 of 5-a-day • gluten free

PER SERVING (6) 649 kcals • fat 50g • saturates 18g •

carbs 11g • sugars 9g • fibre 3g • protein 37g • salt 1.9g