MADHUR JAFFREY’S WHOLE ROASTED MASALA CHICKEN

ALICE SAYS: Skin a chicken? It’s like undressing a baby in a baby-gro that’s too small. I left the skin on the wings – too fiddly.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE MARINADE

4 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp peeled, finely chopped root ginger

2 tbsp finely chopped or crushed garlic

3 hot green chillies, finely chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

FOR THE CHICKEN

½ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE ROASTED MASALA POTATOES

6 tbsp olive or sunflower oil

5 medium potatoes, peeled, halved lengthways, and cut into 5x4cm/2x1½in chunks

¾ tsp of salt

¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp Kashmiri (mild) chilli powder

Assembling the marinade ingredients is like mingling the strongest and most delicious scents in the world in one blender. I remove the skin of the chicken and slice into the flesh six times and then rub in the bright red marinade. After half an hour I add

the chilli powder and black pepper to the fiery-looking result and put the whole lot, covered in foil, in the oven for an hour. The kitchen is flooded with a mouth-watering scent. After an hour I unwrap the bird and cook it uncovered for another 15 minutes.

I cover the potatoes in oil and roast them for 20 minutes on a baking tray and then mix up the coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli powder on a plate, cover each potato, then roast for a further 20 minutes.

The spices have permeated the chicken to create the most incredible piquant flavour, and the potatoes are so delicious that anyone who walks past swipes one.