Today, we're in the expert hands of commenter and honorary Red Celia Wakefield, whose easy summer supper, lava cakes, and mock grilled ribs you've all enjoyed. Celia has a knack for making elegant dishes simply and vice versa; you won't be surprised she was a professional caterer for many years.
I made a pig of myself eating Durban chicken at her house a few weeks ago, and when she volunteered to demonstrate how to make it for us al, I jumped at the chance. Durban chicken is an Indian dish from South Africa, spicy, but within British tastes, and SO moist and tender. Once you make this, you'll never roast a bird again. Celia's is a version of the classic recipe featured in Madhur Jaffrey's From Curries to Kebabs.
Ingredients:
1 chicken, skinned whole (don't fret, Celia will show you how!)
For the spice sauce:
4 T lemon or lime juice2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1t salt
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
1 T Trader Joes Chili Lime Blend (Celia uses this in everything, you just need to give in and buy some now.)
Pepper to taste.
2 T olive oil.
Peel the garlic cloves and ginger. Mash the garlic with the side of your knife and cube the ginger. Put all the sauce ingredients together and pour into a blender, food processor or grinding mill (Celia uses a Prep Master.) Blend until it's well-integrated. Pour it back into a bowl so it's easy to scoop up and smear on the bird.....and then the rest. Snap or cut off the ends of the wings; you can save them for stock.
After you've denuded the chicken, make three deep cuts in each breast, and also in the meaty parts of the legs. Place the bird in a tinfoil-lined pan - you're going to wrap it, so make sure you have plenty of foil! Rub generous amounts of the spice sauce into the cuts and surrounding meat, and pour anything left on the breast.
Set the oven on 425 F. (220 C) Roll and crimp the foil, first the long way across the breast, then on each end. You're making a tight packet for the chicken to cook in - just like when you made camping food in the Girl or Boy Scouts! Bake for 1 hour.
After an hour, open the foil and baste with the juices. Try not to faint from the heavenly smell. Test if the chicken is done with a meat thermometer; if necessary, return the bird for another 15 minutes or until the interior temperature reads 150 F (75 C).
It sounds like a lot of work, but really, it worked up very quickly. Celia served the chicken sliced off the bone atop a bed of coconut rice with some seasonal veggies on the side. So good. If it weren't for the fact I want to be invited back, I would have eaten it all.
What do you think, dear readers? Will you try it? Do you have a recipe to share? And how do you like our video presentation? Should we do it again some time?
