This is a great way to jazz up a traditional Sunday roast where the chicken is marinated in yoghurt and spices making it meltingly tender. . The flavours here are really fantastic and really penetrate the flesh of the chicken. Try to by a free-range or organic chicken, as the flavour is always so much better.

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg Whole chicken
  • 2 Large onions, peeled and cut into thick slices
  • 1 tblsp Rapeseed oil
  • 1 Lemon, halved
  • For the marinade:
  • 2 Large garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tblsp Freshly grated root ginger
  • 1 tsp Ground cumin
  • 2 tsp Ground coriander
  • 2 tsp Garam masala
  • 1 tsp Hot paprika
  • 1 tblsp Ground turmeric
  • 2 tblsp Rapeseed oil
  • 250 ml Natural yogurt
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • For the couscous:
  • 3 Cardamom pods
  • 200 g Couscous
  • 2 tsp Vegetable stock granules
  • Handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
  • 100 g Toasted silvered almonds

Method

  • To make the marinade, mix the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, paprika, olive oil and yogurt in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.
  • Slash the chicken legs several times with a sharp knife (this is to help ensure crispy skin once cooked), then rub the marinade all over the chicken, both inside and out. If time allows put the chicken in a large food bag, or covered in a non-metallic dish, and leave to marinate for at least 4 hours, or up to 24 hours is best.
  • Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat the oven to 230C.
  • Make a trivet with the onions in an oval casserole dish or roasting tin and then drizzle over the rapeseed oil.
  • Season with salt and pepper and sit the chicken on top.
  • Put the lemon inside the chicken’s cavity and place in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 200C.
  • Cover the chicken loosely with foil and roast for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and roast for another 50 minutes, basting the chicken halfway through cooking.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the couscous. Bash the cardamom pods with the back of a knife and place them in a bowl with the couscous.
  • Add the stock granules and cover with boiling water, cover with cling film and leave until all the water has been soaked up and the couscous is nice a plump Using a fork fluff up the couscous when it’s ready and fold in the coriander and almonds.
  • Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before you carve it, then arrange on warmed serving plates with the couscous to serve.