If you haven’t done a “flat-roast” chicken yet, now is your time! The chicken cooks more quickly compared to the traditional method and the meat still stays moist, so it’s perfect for a school night dinner. This recipe for tandoori roasted chicken is super simple to pull together and if you have time, prepare the chicken the day before so it can marinate for extra flavour.
Kitchen scissors are best to cut out the backbone of the chicken, you can google for a video or follow my pretty basic instructions. Put the whole chicken breast down on a chopping board and cut down the spine either side of the parsons nose. Once the spine has been removed flip the chicken breast side up and use the heel of your hand to flatten the bird at the shoulders. You could roast or BBQ the chicken as is at this point, or add flavoured butter under the skin, lemon, garlic, thyme, olive oil… whatever takes your fancy I’m sure it will be delicious.
I served this chicken with blackened spiced cauliflower on a bed of spinach. Raita and naan would also be a welcome addition! Let me know what you decided to serve it with, and how good your dinner was.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 thumb size piece of ginger, grated
- 1 tbs tomato paste
- 2 tbs plain yoghurt
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbs tandoori paste
- 1 tsp salt
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Line a baking tray/dish with foil and place a wire rack on top.
- Mix the marinade ingredients together and rub all over the chicken and under skin.
- Place the chicken on the rack and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, depending on your oven and size of your chicken. The chicken is cooked when the juices run clear when the thickest part of the bird is pierced with a skewer. If you want crispier and blackened skin, you could finish the chicken under a hot grill for a few minutes.
Side note: for the cauliflower I simply tossed the cauliflower florets with olive oil, 1 tsp of garam masala, 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp nigella seeds and then roasted them in the oven for about the same amount of time as the chicken. The blackened ridges of the cauliflower are where the flavour is. I could eat a whole bowl of just cauliflower done this way… so good.
