Balti Chicken Roast

Anyone who has lived in the UK would know just how much the Brits love Indian food. There are Indian restaurants & take-away businesses all over the place! I myself am partial to a lovey Bhuna curry with warm garlic naan bread on the side... heaven!

But the UK is also famous for its Sunday roasts, which is why I want to combine the two by cooking a roast chicken 'Indian style' with a lightly flavoured curry gravy. I served it with Lebanese flatbreads (because, sadly, naan bread is very difficult to find in my part of France), rice, fresh coriander and a cucumber & tomato salad with a lemon dressing. Enjoy!

4 Servings

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp Balti curry paste (plus 1tsp for the gravy)

20gr coriander, stalks separated from leaves

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp hot chilli powder

1/2 a lemon, cut into 4 parts

4 garlic cloves, left unpeeled & whole

2 carrots, peeled & halved horizontally

2 stalks of celery, sliced into large sections the same length as the carrots

1 onion, cut into 1 cm slices

500ml chicken stock

1 tsp Balti curry paste

1 tbsp cornflour

Instructions:

This recipe is best if the chicken is marinated the night before.

To create the marinade, melt the butter & allow to cool to room temperature.

Mix the melted butter with the Balti curry paste.

Finely chop the coriander stalks & add them to the mix, along with the pepper & chilli powder.

Smear the marinade all over the outside of the chicken, and inside the cavity.

Cover with cling film & allow to marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day, stuff the chicken cavity with the lemon & garlic cloves.

Heat the oven to 180c for fan assisted oven or 200c for traditional ovens.

Add a drizzle of sunflower oil to a large baking tray.

Layer the carrots, celery & onion in the tray to create a 'bed' for the chicken to roast on.

Bake the chicken for 1.5 hours or until cooked through, basting regularly with the juices in the pan. Allow the chicken to rest while you prepare the gravy.

To create a gravy, combine the chicken stock with the 1 tsp of Balti curry paste, in a pot on medium low heat. Once simmering, mix the cornflour with 2 tbsp0 of cold water in a small bowl. Pour the cornflour mix into the gravy whilst stirring constantly with a whisk. After about a minute the gravy should have thickened to the right consistency.

Serve the chicken on a large tray with the roasted carrots & celery, and the gravy on the side.