I was so impressed when I flicked through the book indian made easy by amandip uppal, it took me a while to decide on what to make first, there are so many amazing recipes like butter chicken, masala roast lamb and samosas, but I decided on this lemon and saffron pot roast chicken, and I have to say it was incredible, there was so much flavour and the meat was so soft. I sent my partner to get a chicken and he bought home this giant bird, I didn’t have a pot big enough with a lid to fit it in so I used a deep sided roasting dish (not the one pictured) and covered it in foil. there is only the two of us but my partner seems to think we are feeding an army when he goes shopping, luckily this was great in sandwiches the next day too. I am not generally a fan of lemon in savoury dishes but I make an exception with chicken as I always find it goes so well. if like me you love indian food then I highly recommend this new book. I cant wait to cook from it again.

roast chicken is my favourites but I had never cooked it in this way before and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at this method of adding water into the pot made the meat so moist because chicken is an easy meat to dry out.

fresh

• 2 tbsp. grated ginger
• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• grated zest and juice of two lemons
• 1.5kg whole chicken
• 2 tbsp. crème fraiche

spices

• 1 tbsp. ground cumin
• 2 tbsp. ground coriander
• 5-5 threads of saffron soaked in 1 tbsp. milk

bouquet garni

• 1 large cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 star anise
• 4 cardamom pods

pantry larder

• 2-3 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp salt

note: spices can be added straight into the dish instead of making a bouquet garni

1. preheat the oven to 170c-190c (325f/gas 3-5)
2. place the ginger, garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, lemon zest and juice, soaked saffron threads and oil in a bowl and mix. rub all over the whole chicken and place in a lidded oven proof dish.
3. add the bouquet garni spices and salt, then pour in enough water to come a third of the way up the chicken and cover with the lid.
4. place in oven and cook for 1 hour then remove the lid and cook for a further 15-20 minutes. or until chicken is cook though.
5. remove the chicken from the dish, then hour half of the chicken stock into a pan and add the crème fraiche, then place on a low heat and simmer fir 10-15 minutes until slightly thickened.
6. cut the chicken into serving pieces and pour over the sauce.

we ate it with some naan bread and rice.