It’s winter and its time to cook something that will help keep the chill of winter at bay. For this, there is nothing better than a wonderful curry.

I was very fortunate to spend a weekend with renowned Chef, Reza Mahammad a month or so ago and he told me about the new trend that he had started – “Frindian cuisine” – yip Frindian … this is where you combine classic French cooking techniques with the wonderful variety and diversity of Indian spices.

This is a not an easy task but Reza, the genius, makes this work so brilliantly.

Back home I decided to try my own Frindian chicken – by roasting a chicken the French way { the technique I always use is from the book “Le Cordon Bleu at home”} and using my own Indian spice mix – this dish was such a hit around the table there were only a few bony morsels left. This is the kind of dish where you need to get stuck in with your hands and eat this with gusto – it’s delicious, tasty and extremely alluring. Not only does the dish dress up to impress, but the taste is hot and complex. The flavours seem to just stitch two continental food styles in seamless fashion and so worth the effort.

On how to truss a chicken click here.

roasted chicken curry = frindian chicken

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour 10 mins

Total time

1 hour 25 mins

 

Author: anél potgieter

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 Chicken – about 2 kg’s
• 3T Butter
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1T Vegetable oil
• My spice mix – mix all the ingredients below together.
• 1T Grated fresh garlic
• 1T Grated fresh ginger
• 2t Chillie flakes – you can replace these with 1 or 2 chopped strong red chillies depending on your individual taste
• 2T Masala mix [strong curry powder]
• 1T Cumin seeds
• 1T Coriander [fine]
• ½t Cinnamon [fine]
• Fresh coriander for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C.
2. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel.
3. Loosen the skin on the topside of the chicken and take the Marsala mix and try to massage it under the skin – make sure you rub it all over the chicken. Do it carefully and take your time. You don’t want to break the skin at any point. Even try and get some Marsala into the little legs and wings. Rub the spice on the inside of the chicken as well.
4. Now season the cavity with salt and pepper.
5. Truss the chicken.
6. Then rub the outside of the chicken with the butter and oil and season with salt and pepper.
7. Place the chicken on the side in a roasting tray and roast for 20 minutes.
8. Then turn the chicken onto its other side and roast for another 20 minutes.
9. Finally turn the chicken with the breast side-up, add a ½ cup of water to the pan and roast till the juices run clear – about another 20 – 30 minutes.
10. Let it rest for 15 minutes covered with aluminium foil. The juices will be absorbed into the meat and it will be far easier to carve.
11. While resting the chicken, bring the remaining juices in the roasting tray to the boil on top of the stove – scrape to release any cooked meat that is still at the bottom of the tray. Add a bit of water and reduce till ⅓. Spoon this over your meat at the table.
12. Remove the twine, carve and enjoy your Frindian chicken with your bestest friends.

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