- 2½5kg av. whole chicken
- 1½ red pepper
- 1½ lime
- A pinch of dried chilli flakes
- A pinch of ground cinnamon
- 1½ tbsp Demerara sugar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp water
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1.
Heat your oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Take the chicken out of the fridge, unwrap it and pop it in a roasting tin. Let it come to room temperature.
- 2.
While the chicken is coming to temperature, char the pepper. If you have a gas hob, you can set a hob to medium and lay the whole pepper directly on the flame (line your hob with foil to make it easy to clean). Char it for 15 mins, using tongs to turn it and move it around so it’s black all over. Take off the heat and pop in a bowl. Cover with cling film and leave to cool.
- 3.
No gas hob? Halve the pepper, scoop out the seeds and white bits and lay on a grill pan or baking tray, cut-side down. Slide under a preheated grill for 10-15 mins till the skin is charred and bubbled. Set aside to cool.
- 4.
Peel the skin off the pepper and roughly chop it. Put the pepper in a small food processor with the finely grated zest and juice of the lime, a pinch of chilli flakes (they’re spicy, so use as much or as little as you prefer), a pinch of cinnamon, 1 tbsp Demerara sugar, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp water and a pinch of salt and pepper and blitz to make a chunky paste.
- 5.
No food processor? Finely chop the pepper and mix everything together in a bowl, without the water to make a chunkier sauce.
- 6.
Spoon the pepper sauce all over the chicken and rub it in to make sure the chicken is well coated. Loosely cover the roasting tin with foil, scrunching the sides to seal it. Roast in the oven for 1 hr 15 mins, then remove the foil and roast for a further 15-20 mins till the chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Pierce the thickest part of a thigh with a skewer or knife. If the juices run clear and there is no trace of pink, the chicken is ready.
- 7.
Transfer the chicken to a board, loosely cover with foil and rest for 20-30 mins before carving and serving.
- Tip
On the side
Toss parboiled potatoes with a pinch of ground cumin and a pinch of smoked paprika before roasting them in hot oil to make spicy roasties to go with your chook. Make a guacamole from smashed avocados, diced tomatoes, red onion, chilli, lime juice and coriander and serve on the side to help cool down the spices. - Tip
Next week
What better way to celebrate the Chinese New Year than with a joint of juicy roast pork? Rubbed with a sweet and sour China 5 spice marinade and roasted till the crackling is crunchy, we think it's the perfect dish to welcome in the Year of the Dog.
