In India a whole chicken is roasted in a clay oven or tandoori. But as the special flavor comes from the yogurt marinade, an electric or gas oven does just as well.

• Preparation : 40 minutes
• Cooking : 1 ½ hours
• Serves : 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1.6kg Chicken (cut into portion)
• 3 tbls lemon juice
• ¼ tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp salt and pepper
• 1 nos onion (chopped)
• 5cm fresh root ginger( peeled and chopped)
• 175ml yogurt
• 1 tbls ground coriander
• 1 tbls ground cumin
• 1-2 tbls paprika
• 15gm melted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Skin the chicken portions. Then prick all over with a fork. Slash with a sharp knife. Mix the lemon juice, chili powder and salt and pepper to taste together in a jug. Pour over the chicken and rub into the slashes.

Punch the onion, ginger and garlic to a paste using a pestle and mortar, or blend in a food processor until smooth, stir in the yogurt , coriander , cumin and paprika. Brush all the marinade over the chicken, cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Heat the oven to 230c, remove the chicken from marinade and place in a roasting tin. Mix the melted butter with the marinade remaining in the dish, then use the mixture to coat the chicken again.

Cook the chicken for 1 ¼ -1 ½ hours or until cooked through, basting occasionally with the juices. Serve hot.

Variations

Instead of using a whole chicken, you could use just breast portion or leg portions.

If using breast portions, reduce the cooking time to 1 ¼ hours.