Delia’s Spiced Chicken

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This chicken dish belongs to Delia Smith, who probably remains the single biggest influence on English cooking since Elizabeth David.

There is a reason for that; Delia’s recipes are straightforward, always work and they look and taste good. As for her influence, when I was working in London during the Eighties, Delia was doing a television cooking show. One night she did a recipe that included fresh cranberries.

Within 48 hours stores the length and breadth of Britain had completely sold out of them and suppliers were struggling to keep up with the demand.

She describes the chicken recipe below as one of her top ten favorites, which is a good enough recommendation for me. See what you think.

For 4 people you will need:

1 chicken, size 16 (1.6kg) cut into 4 pieces
2 medium onions, chopped small
1 dessertspoon of ground ginger
1 dessertspoon of turmeric
1tsp Madras curry powder
1 garlic clove, crushed
1tbs oil
40g butter
150g natural yogurt
150g fresh cream
Salt and black pepper

There are three stages to cooking this dish, the first of which is to marinade the chicken in the spices overnight.

Start by putting the chicken pieces into an ovenproof dish large enough for them to lie side by side with no overlap. Using a skewer, puncture each piece several times. This will help the spices to sink into the flesh.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, mix all the spices together and sprinkle about one heaped teaspoonful over the chicken. Add the crushed garlic, drizzle a little oil over everything and then, using your hands, rub the oil, spices and garlic well into the chicken pieces

Leave in the refrigerator overnight, or at least for several hours.

Step 2 is to preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, put a piece of butter on each chicken joint and cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Meanwhile fry the onions in a little butter and oil to soften. This will take about 10 minutes over a low heat, which is what you should be using. Mix the remaining spices with the cream and yogurt.

Step 3 is to take the chicken out of the oven, spoon the onion over each joint followed by the yogurt mix, cover and return to the oven for a further 45 minutes. Baste the chicken with the juices once or twice during cooking. Serve with rice and garnish with sprigs of watercress, if available.

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