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Roast Chicken
Mark Bittman
8843 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
8,843
50 to 60 minutes
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Heat oven to 300 degrees. Put chicken in a deep roasting pan.
Put oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to color, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Stir in the ground spices and cook until just fragrant, no more than a minute. Stir in the yogurt, then spread mixture over chicken. Cover and put in oven; bake until chicken is just cooked through, about 1½ hours. (You can prepare chicken up to a day ahead; if you are not going to grill or broil immediately, put whole pan in refrigerator after it cools down a bit.)
Light a charcoal or gas grill or heat broiler; rack should be about 4 inches away from heat source. Remove chicken from yogurt sauce, scraping away any excess.
Grill or broil over direct heat, turning once or twice, until skin is crisp and charred and meat dries out a bit, about 15 minutes total. Serve hot or at room temperature.
My Indian "Sister" (Didi) taught me to deeply slash the chicken to allow the yogurt/spice mixture to marinate deeply into the chicken. You often find this technique practiced in restaurants also.
The yogurt and spices are great. I've used a variation of the cooking method for many years (when I remember to do it), and it works very well. I first cook the chicken (or whatever) over indirect heat on the grill before browning it over direct heat for a few minutes. Alternatively, I use foil to catch the fat and juices to prevent flareups.
This is a mystery to me... I followed the recipe exactly. The chicken was virtually flavorless (?)
Made this in toaster oven with 2 thighs slashed. Halved spices with 1/4 c. Yogurt, thinned w/ 2 T.water. The paprika overwhelmed the spices/onion. Will try again adding just enough for color. Loved the char and tenderness from the hour in slow oven. Planning on doctoring leftover sauce to bake/broil potato chunks: chicken or veg stock and a little oil?
After reading the other reviews, I decided to dial up the flavor by making use of the significant pan drippings and cooked down yogurt curds that remained in the baking pan. I used an immersion blender and whirled this into a sauce. After following the recipe to the letter, I topped the grilled chicken with this flavorful creamy sauce and a sprinkling of smoked paprika. I served it with lime wedges. It was very well received.
Too much yogurt. The drier the marinade the more intense the flavor. Do this with thigh meat and let ground onions add the moisture and very little yogurt. Half cup maybe. Much more intense and will cling to meat better. When I make tandoori I’ve stopped adding yogurt and just add olive oil. I make a paste out of the onions oil and other spices.
Cut slits in chicken pieces before baking. Take time to grill/broil and create crispy skin with smokey bits. Definitely needs a lemon wedge. Tip - take an immersion circulator or blender to the remaining yogurt marinade/cooking liquid and use it as a sauce for the chicken and sides. Excellent technique- tender meat, crispy skin Loved it!
Fairly disappointed with this recipe. I should have read the comments—perhaps deeply scoring the chicken prior to cooking it in the yogurt would have made the flavors more deeply impact the result. The smells were amazing—I was surprised they just didn’t stick to the chicken.
This was a disappointment. All those flavors and the chicken tasted exactly like ... chicken ... with nothing on it. I’m happy to slice, dice and chop. But I prefer a result that has flavors associated with the effort. This did not. Smelled so good. And then, nothing.
My Indian "Sister" (Didi) taught me to deeply slash the chicken to allow the yogurt/spice mixture to marinate deeply into the chicken. You often find this technique practiced in restaurants also.
I was disappointed that more of the flavor from the yogurt mixture didn't transfer to the chicken.
but I like the cooking method, so will try again with other marinade
The yogurt and spices are great. I've used a variation of the cooking method for many years (when I remember to do it), and it works very well. I first cook the chicken (or whatever) over indirect heat on the grill before browning it over direct heat for a few minutes. Alternatively, I use foil to catch the fat and juices to prevent flareups.
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