Indian Spiced Roast Chicken

Indian Spiced Roast Chicken

A roast chicken dinner is a great Autumn comfort food meal but sometimes it's nice to mix it up and try something a little different to perk up your taste buds; wouldn't want them getting lazy over the winter. Our family loves Indian dishes of all kinds and here we just used some of our favorite curry inspired spices to season the outside of the chicken while the cavity gets filled with aromatic ginger, garlic and onions. The result is flavor being infused into the meat from both directions for a very delicious result. We served it with a warm couscous salad on this occasion but your favorite rice dish would also be great too.

Indian Spiced Roast Chicken

Recipe by Barry C. Parsons

An Indian spice inspired roast chicken, infused with ginger, garlic and onion.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 1/2 hours
Total time: Under 2 hours
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients

• 3-4 pound whole chicken
• 1 tbsp powdered ginger
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp powdered garlic
• 1 tbsp yellow curry powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• four 1/4 inch slices ginger root
• 3 cloves garlic roughly chopped
• 1/2 small red onion

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the onions, garlic and ginger into the cavity of the chicken.
3. Mix the spices, salt and pepper with the olive oil.
4. Brush or rub the spice mix all over the exterior of the chicken.
5. Roast, uncovered on a rack for about 1 1/2 hours, until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 170 degrees F on a meat thermometer.
6. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven before carving and serving. 

Indian Spiced Roast Chicken

Maple Chipotle Glazed Roast Chicken

Maple Chipotle Glazed Roast Chicken

A roast chicken dinner is about as homey as good cooking gets. At our house roasted potatoes are a must with a good roast chicken; not making roast potatoes would be a cardinal sin in my son's eyes especially. You can find our very popular version of English style roast potatoes here. We often roast off other root vegetables like carrots and Spouse's favorite parsnip to serve as well but the star of the show is always a perfectly roasted chicken.  

  

I like to brine my poultry before roasting but it's not essential if you are pressed for time. You can read more about my brining technique here. 

This one was particularly good with a sweet and smoky glaze to make for a perfect Sunday roast dinner.

Maple Chipotle Glaze

In a small pot sauté together:

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

Add

1/3 cup low sodium chicken stock

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp dried thyme

1 tsp chipotle powder

Simmer slowly stirring often until the glaze reduces by at least half in volume.

Roast your chicken uncovered in a 350 degree oven. In the last half hour or so of cooking time, brush several layers of the glaze all over the chicken about every 10 minutes. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes when it comes out of the oven before carving and serving.