Roast Chicken Zafrani

This is a traditional recipe that has been circulating in our family ever since we came to Canada. It is chicken  roast indian style with no vegetables and is very flavourful and tasty. The chicken just comes off the bone and is very juicy and flavourful. It is enjoyed with naan, biryani rice or any kind of rice. It is the technique of baking the chicken that makes the chicken soft and juicy. It has to be first marinated for atleast 2 hrs then baked in a covered roasting pan at a low temperature then uncovered and roasted in the oven for another 20 - 30 mins (setting on convection roast) till it is nicely roasted on all sides.

Ingredients:

Whole Chicken - 1

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tblspn

Cloves -5-6

Saffron - 1/8th of a tspn

Almonds - 1/4 cup ground

Dhania powder - 1tspn

Red chilly powder - 1tspn

Turmeric powder - 1/2 a tspn

Vegetable Oil - 1 tblspn
Lemon juice - 2 tblspns

Method:
Grind the ginger & garlic to a fine paste and get all the dry ground and whole spices ready.



Clean and wash the chicken, drain and towel dry. Heat a small frying pan with oil. Add the cloves, immediately followed by ginger garlic paste, turmeric, dhania and red chilly powder, then ground almonds stirring well after each addition. Cook the masalas till you get an aroma. Remove and let it cool down for sometime.

Take a pinch of saffron crush it to a fine powder with a mortar & pestle, add a few drops of water to it and pour it in the marinade after it cools down. This is to retain the saffron flavour.



Meanwhile make slits all over in the chicken - in the thighs, drumsticks, breasts etc. Rub the chicken with salt and lemon juice leave for 15 mins then marinate the chicken with this masala. Leave for atleast 2 hrs. Preheat to oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Put the chicken in a roasting pan add 1/2 a cup of water, tightly close the lid and bake in the oven for 1 hr. After 1 hr change the setting to convection roast & raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Roast uncovered for another 20 - 30 mins. Keep basting the chicken every now and then with its own juices so that it remains moist throughout. Remove when nicely roasted. If there are any juices left pour them over the chicken before serving. Serve hot with rice, naan or rumali rotis and enjoy!