Whole Tandoori Chicken

This is a traditional tandoori recipe slightly adapted and does not contain the bright red food colourings that our take always use

The recipe has a two stage marinade and is for a whole chicken

I have tried this on chicken breasts and it worked just as well

The marinade process should be done over night but I have cooked it after a 5 hour soak and it was fine.

This should feed four and will be around 230 calories per serving

Stage one

1 whole chicken

¾ tsp turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp salt

4 tbsp white wine vinegar

Stage 2

150 ml Greek natural low fat yogurt

4 cm ginger

6 cloves garlic

2 green chillies

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp cumin seeds

Stage one

Skin the whole chicken, not the most pleasant thing to do!

put the chicken in a roasting pan and score the flesh with a knife

Put the turmeric, chilli powder, pepper, salt and vinegar in a small bowl, mix well then use to coat the chicken on all sides

leave to marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes

Stage 2

Peel and grate the ginger, finely chop the chillis and garlic

whisk the yogurt in a bowl until smooth then stir in the ginger, garlic, chillies, garam masala

Toast the cumin seeds in a dry hot pan until they change to a more pink/red colour, be careful not to burn them

Grind them in a pestle and mortar or spice blender until a powder and add them to the marinade mix and give it a good stir

Spoon this mixture over the chicken until coated, leaving a little spare for the cooking. marinate overnight in the fridge

heat the oven to 200C

Roast the chicken in a preheated oven for about 1 hour 20 minutes. With the excess marinade spoon it over the chicken every 20 mins to keep it moist