If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know by now that some of my recipes come about from just ‘going with the flow’ and not really following any recipe. This Chicken Fiesta is one of those. I really wasn’t up to cooking curry one evening and instead decided to cook this; I made a marinade, mixed it up with some chicken, frozen vegetables (who seriously has the time to stand and chop veggies?), pickled garlic and bunged it all into the oven. I wasn’t really expecting much in the way of taste, but I have to say it was totally awesome!

Because I like my family to sample my recipes before I share them with you all (to get either a thumbs up or a thumbs down), I cooked this for my sisters and their ‘sometimes hard to please’ kids and they happily ate everything (well there may have been a few pieces of broccoli left on their plates, but you catch my drift right?). Anyway, now that the recipe has been given the ‘thumbs up’ from ‘ma famille’, I decided to share it with you all!

I’ve used a whole chicken and cut it into smaller pieces which not only cuts down on the cooking time but means the marinade coats more surface area, which can only mean one thing……MORE FLAVOUR! In this recipe I will show you step by step, how to dissect a whole chicken using a pair of strong kitchen scissors (you can also use a meat cleaver to do this) but if you’re short on time, get your butcher to do this for you instead.

Leaving the skin on the chicken adds lots of flavour to the vegetables, if you don’t enjoy eating chicken skin you may remove this after cooking. This recipe uses a combination of yoghurt, lemon juice and pickled garlic, so the dish has a very unique tanginess to it, which is really nice. I have to say I was never really a fan of pickled garlic before creating this recipe, but I really enjoy them when they’re cooked like this, I’m hoping some of you guys will too. For convenience the marinade can always be made ahead of time and left in the fridge for up to one week until you want to use it, in fact you could also marinate the entire dish a night (or two) before and leave it in the fridge, that way the flavours would be even more pronounced. I want you all to be amazed at how easy cooking from scratch can be, even on days when you think you just don’t have the energy to!

Serves 6 – 8

You will need: for Chicken Fiesta

1 medium sized chicken cut into 8 pieces (chicken should be washed and drained)
300g frozen mixed vegetables (you may use fresh if you prefer)
handful of pickled garlic

For the marinade:
1/2 pot of Greek yoghurt
1/4 cup of oil
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp double cream
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tsp mixed curry powder (I use Bolsts Mild Mixed Curry Powder)
1.5 – 2 tsp salt (adjust to your preference)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp white pepper powder
1/3 tsp yellow food colouring

Method:

It helps to measure out all the ground spices before beginning anything else to prevent handling jars with soiled hands.

Measure out 4 tsp mixed curry powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1.5 – 2 tsp of salt, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp white pepper and lastly 1/3 tsp of yellow food colouring.

Start to cut the chicken between the leg and the breast (top right photo), turn the chicken over and continue to cut straight across the back (bottom left photo), turn on its side again and continue to cut between the leg and breast on the other side (bottom right photo).

Once the chicken is cut in half it will look like this (top left photo).

Next separate the chicken legs by cutting straight through the middle or you may use a meat cleaver to do this (top right photo).

Then separate the drumsticks from the thighs (bottom left and right photo).

To cut the top half of the chicken, begin by removing the neck first. Take your scissors and place them along the neck (top left photo) and cut all the way through, do the same for the other side (top right photo).

That’s the neck removed, it can either be added to the dish or discarded (bottom left and right photo).

Cut the top section in half (top left photo), then cut each piece into two (top right photo). That’s the chicken all dissected, now to prepare the marinade!

In a large bowl measure 1/2 a cup of Greek yoghurt, 1/4 cup of oil….

….add 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 2 tbsp double cream, 2 tbsp lemon juice and all the ground spices measured out earlier. Mix together until well combined.

Pour the marinade over the chicken, add 300gm of frozen vegetables and a generous handful of pickled garlic.

Mix everything till all the ingredients are coated with the marinade. If you want to freeze some of this chicken for another day, now is the time to store it in a suitable food container that can be placed in the freezer; when you want to cook it, allow it to defrost in the fridge for 24 hours.

Place the coated ingredients on a baking tray or suitable oven dish (a metal tray is actually better than a ceramic/clay dish as it conducts the heat better, I have used this clay dish more for aesthetic purposes).

Cover the dish/tray with some foil and bake in a hot oven on gas mark 6 (200 degrees celsius) for about 45 – 50 minutes (covered) and for a further 20 – 30 minutes uncovered.

Halfway through the first hour of cooking, turn the chicken pieces and baste them with the juices from the chicken. Turn the chicken pieces skin side up during the last 20 – 30 minutes to allow the skin to brown nicely.

This dish is best enjoyed with a simple rice dish, naan or some crusty bread to mop up the delicious juices with……I even reckon a creamy mash would be brilliant too!

How you eat it is up to you, just make sure you slurp those juices and ENJOY!!

Bon Appetit!

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