Roast chicken, spiced spinach & yogurt
I love saag aloo, so I created this simple and delicious one-pan dinner inspired by those flavours. This is not like an authentic saag aloo, it’s my own version. If using chicken thighs or legs, fry them skin-side down for 5-10min until golden and crisp, and roast for 25-35min until cooked through. Then continue as instructed.
SERVES 4
• 1 x 1.5-2kg good-quality whole chicken (or 4 legs or 8 thighs, see intro)
• 1tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, peeled and finely sliced
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 1tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2tsp turmeric
• Pinch dried chilli flakes
• 3cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 4 garlic cloves
• 400g spinach
• Lemon juice, to taste
TO SERVE
• A few heaped tbsp yogurt
• 1 green chilli, finely sliced, optional
1 Preheat oven to 260°C (240°C fan) mark 10 (or as high as your oven will go). Season the chicken all over with salt, then set aside to rest for 30min.
2 Place the chicken into an ovenproof frying pan, low-sided casserole dish or cast-iron pan. Pour the oil over the chicken and massage it in with your hands. The oil will give the chicken a little kick-start in the oven, so give it some love and attention and get the oil into every nook and cranny to achieve maximum crispness.
3 Roast in the oven, legs at the back, for 30min. After this time, reduce the heat to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6, then rotate the chicken and roast for a further 10-25min until golden and crisp all over and the juices from the legs run clear. (If you have a meat thermometer, you’re aiming for 70°C at the base of the breast.)
4 Remove the pan from the oven, then lift out the chicken and set aside on a plate to rest.
5 Put the pan back over medium heat and add the onions with a pinch of salt, tossing them in the chicken fat in the pan. Very slowly fry the onions for 10-15min, stirring every so often until they are very, very soft and caramelised.
If they start to fry too quickly, just turn down the heat and add a splash of water. Add the cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric, chilli flakes, ginger and garlic and fry for a further 5min.
6 Add the spinach a handful at a time, mixing it into the onions as you go and letting it wilt with each batch. Let this cook down for a further 4-5min until the spinach has soaked up all the flavours. Squeeze in some lemon juice and add a few grinds of black pepper, then taste. 7 Lay the chicken back on top of the spinach and serve to the table with the yogurt and chilli.