The Roast.

I associate roast chicken with a Sunday and the Madras Gymkhanna Club. We would go to the club, have a swim and then invariably stay back for a lunch of biryani or roast chicken.

The first time we made roast at home, I was super fascinated. The only thing that I helped do was peel some garlic cloves and tuck them under the skin. I eagerly waited near the oven watching the chicken brown slowly. SUPER slowly.

It was a Tuesday and work had become really stressful. The next Sunday seemed too far away. So i set out to make this roast chicken, and i have to say that to date i think its one of the best roast chickens that i have tasted. (thank you Jamie!)

Since there were only two of us, I wanted the smallest chicken i could find. The friendly bandra butcher that I asked nearly fell of his chair when I asked for a full chicken that weighed 800/900 gms. In his tish tosh bandra style he said,"Madam, the smallest chicken that you will get is 1.2kgs" hmph. So I bought it. (it turned out to be pretty small, and we polished off most that night.) 

I took fairly 3 big handfuls of basil, 1 small handful of marjoram, and 2 big handfuls of parsley (the crinkled one, not the flat one) and chopped it really fine. The next time I make this, I'll play around more with the herbs. I really like the flavour that basil adds to a dish, so I chose to add more. It was a messy process and I don't have as many pictures as it was too complicated to dress the chicken AND take pictures. (besides, I'm still getting used to all this blogging stuff)

Jamie asks you to wash and pat down the chicken with a kitchen towel. This is way more complicated that it sounds. The damn thing keeps slipping and the kitchen towel gets stuck and by the end of it, you have a chicken with kitchen towel shreds. So i tried wiping it dry but soon gave up and left it to dry on its own. Then i separated the skin from the chicken (I know it sounds gruesome, but it basically acts as a layer that keeps the herbs close to the flesh.) I added some salt and some pepper. I'm always nervous about salt and pepper and choose to add a little less than what i actually think it needs. Then i tucked the herb mixture all around the chicken. Once i had rubbed the cavity with salt, I put some fresh rosemary sprigs which i put into the cavity along with 4 pieces of cut lime. Then i tied the whole thing up. Don't really follow a method here, just go round and around until i felt that it was tied firmly. I didn't make it the same night and I thought a little marination wouldn't do it any harm. So i drizzled some olive oil on it, put more salt and pepper, cling wrapped the dish and put it in the fridge. 

The next day, i preheated the oven to 225 degrees Celsius, drizzled a little more oil on it and put it into the oven. I browned each side of the chicken for 5/6 mins each and then let it roast for an hour. 

It came out beautifully brown and crisp. I took the drippings from the dish and put it into a saucepan, added half a cup of water ( you usually add stock, but i had none) and a quarter of a glass of red wine. Once it started boiling I added about a tablespoon of cornflour and then waited for the magic to happen. The sauce thickened and it was ready! We carved the chicken, and ate it with mashed potatoes, gravy and broccoli. 

The Wednesday became a Sunday and all was well in the world. 

This recipe is dedicated to mithva, who was having a pretty rough Wednesday.