Punjabi Inspired Roast Chicken with Cheesy Masala Sweet Potato Fries

Recipe by Chris.

While I am a big fan of a traditional Sunday Roast, sometimes spicing things up can make for a delicious and interesting dish. This chicken is spicy, bursting with flavour and if done right, perfectly succulent. I recommend using free range chicken; the corn fed variety is my favourite as it has a much meatier flavour than standard chicken. Add some green vegetables if you want to give this dish a healthy side.

For the Chicken

· 1.5kg corn fed chicken

· Juice of 3 limes

· 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil

· Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

· 2 fresh chillies, de-seeded and roughly chopped

· 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

· 1 teaspoon ground cumin

· 1 teaspoon ground coriander

· 1 teaspoon paprika powder

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1 teaspoon black pepper

For the Masala Fries

· 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chips

· Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

· 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

· 1 fresh red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped

· 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped

· 1 tin chopped tomatoes

· ½ teaspoon of chilli powder

· ½ teaspoon of turmeric

· 1 teaspoon fresh cumin seeds

· 2 tablespoons ghee

· 1 teaspoon Paprika Powder

· ½ teaspoon salt

· 1 teaspoon black pepper

· Cheddar cheese (as much as you like)

· Chopped Coriander for Garnish

Prep Time: 20 minutes (another 30 for marinating)

Cooking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Serves: 4 People

1. Start with the chicken marinade, combine the lime juice, rapeseed oil, ginger, fresh chillies, garlic, ground cumin, salt, pepper and hot paprika powder (Just the ones from the chicken part of the ingredient list) in a blender and blend until you have a paste.

2. Place the chicken on the baking tray, and rub the marinade all over, making sure to get into all of the crevices. Leave to marinade for at least half an hour or overnight if you are super organised.

3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

4. Cover the roasting dish with tinfoil, but try to make sure that it does not press down on the chicken as it may stick to the skin while cooking.

5. Place in the oven for one hour (total cooking time 1 hour 15 minutes)

6. At the one hour mark, remove the tinfoil and cook for a further 15 minutes.

7. In the meantime, get another baking tray and drop in the sweet potatoes, rapeseed oil, salt & pepper. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

8. The chips need to go in the oven 40 minutes before the chicken is finished, so 35 minutes after you put the chicken in.

9. While the chips and chicken are cooking you can start on the masala sauce, heat up the ghee in a frying pan to a high heat (preferably heavy bottomed like cast iron).

10. When the oil gets hot drop in the fennel seeds and fry for 30 seconds.

11. Add the shallots and fry until starting to turn brown.

12. Add the ginger, garlic, fresh chillies, chilli powder, turmeric, paprika, salt & pepper and fry for about a minute until you get a lovely fragrant smell. Don’t overcook at this point as you will burn the spices.

13. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan, mix and turn the heat down to low.

14. Reduce the sauce until it starts to thicken and the oil starts to separate.

15. If the sauce is finished before everything else, turn the heat off, you can warm it up when ready.

16. Serve up the chicken as you like it, my preferred option is to carve it at the table.

17. Place the masala fries in a large bowl and toss with the masala sauce. They shouldn’t be swimming in it; it’s just a light coating.

18. Place in a serving dish and top with the grated cheese and chopped coriander.

19. Enjoy.