Indian Style Roast Chicken

Roast chicken, Sunday roast gets a place in every household. This Indian style roast chicken taste delicious as well as it is easy to make. This is a family favorite just like my grilled chicken, kuboos and barbeque chicken.

Indian Roast Chicken

One evening I was out of ideas for dinner. I was suddenly craving for a chicken dinner. I remembered that its been a while since I roasted a whole chicken. So decided to make a spicy Indian version of roast chicken chicken. I asked hubby to get a whole chicken with skin on because I wanted my roast chicken to have a crispy skin.

About Indian Roast Chicken

Even though, many Indian roast chicken recipe calls for chicken without skin mainly tandoori chicken. I decided to make a simple spicy version of roast chicken which doesn't has curd and other tenderizing stuffs. The skin is what protects the chicken from drying out.

So I made this chicken with skin and it was definitely worth the effort. The chicken was so moist and just came right off the bone. It was one juicy, spicy roast chicken chicken. Believe it or not, me and hubby finished the whole chicken by ourselves. We just had this with some garlic sauce and pita bread. 

You will love my charcoal chicken and Grilled Whole Chicken with Herbs.

Similar Recipes,

Barbeque Chicken

Grilled Chicken

Thai Sticky Chicken

Oven Fried Chicken

Tandoori Chicken

Indian Roast Chicken Ingredients

Whole Chicken - I used a small bird just over a kilo in weight (it is approximately 1.25 kg). Make sure the chicken has skins-on to protect the meat from drying out. Using large bird might take longer time to cook which will result in a drier meat.

Spice Mix - Since this is Indian flavoured chicken. I used a combo of kashmiri chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder. These combo of spice adds a punch.

Butter - take a good amount of butter, melt it down and use for the marination.

Ginger & Garlic - fresh ginger and garlic is ground into paste and used in the marination. I like to use ginger garlic paste, because chopped ginger and garlic might get burnt.

Lemon - adding freshly squeezed lemon juice adds a zing to the marination which in fact keeps them moist and tasty.

Salt - make sure you season the bird generously with salt which adds to the flavour.

How to Make Roast Chicken (Indian Style)

Pre preparation - Take chicken in a baking pan and use a knife to poke holes all through the chicken.

Marination - Take butter in a sauce pan and melt it down. Now add all the ingredients into it and mix well. Spoon the marination over the chicken and massage really well. Spoon marination into the cavity as well. Put the chicken in fridge and let it marinate for 2 hours, you can leave to marinate overnight as well.

Roasting Chicken - Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Bake chicken as mentioned. Sprinkle over some coriander leaves and serve.

How to Make Indian Roast Chicken (Stepwise Pictures)

Marination (Masala) for Chicken

1)Take butter in a sauce pan and melt it gently. Add in coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric and black pepper powder.

2)Add in kashmiri chilli powder and garam masala powder.

3)Add in ginger garlic paste and salt.

4)Finally add in the lemon juice and mix well. Your masala or marination is ready to use.

Preparing the chicken for Roasting

5)When you are using the whole bird. Make sure the chicken is cleaned completely and patted dry using some paper towel. This allows the marination to stick to the chicken.

Take the whole chicken and use a knife to pierce holes all over the chicken. This allows the marinate to penetrate deep into the chicken. Make sure you don't tear the chicken skins.

Use a knife or fork to poke lots of holes all over the chicken.

Marinating the chicken

6)Take the marination which we prepared earlier. Apply it all over the chicken. I like to use my hands and spread it under the skins, inside the cavity and all over the chicken.

7)You can let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Sometimes I cover the tray with aluminium foil and leave the chicken to marinate overnight. But it is okay to bake the chicken immediately also.

If you are planning to marinate the chicken longer in fridge. Make sure you take the chicken out of fridge 30 mins or 1 hour before baking.

Roasting Chicken

8)Cover the whole tray of chicken with aluminium foil. Place the chicken in oven and bake for 45 mins.

Basting the Chicken

9)Remove the chicken from oven and use a ladle to remove the juices from the tray and pour (baste) over the chicken.

Cover with foil again and pop into the oven and bake for another 45 mins.

10)Now remove the chicken from oven, increase the heat of the oven to 220 degree C.

Remove the foil from the tray, spoon the juice collected in the tray over the chicken and bake for another 35 to 40 mins, spoon the juices over the chicken every 10 mins.

Serving Roast Chicken

11) Remove the chicken from oven and let it rest for 15 to 30 mins. If you have any juices in the tray just spoon it over the chicken. This will keep the chicken moist.

12)Remove the chicken to a serving platter.

13)Drizzle any leftover pan juices that are collected in the tray over the chicken which will keep the chicken moist.

14)Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves over the chicken and serve.

Expert Tips for Juicy Chicken

Room temperature for baking - If you are allowing the chicken to rest in fridge. Make sure you take the chicken out of fridge 30 mins or 1 hour before baking. This ensures even baking and moist chicken.

Covering with foil - Cover the tray with foil and bake for 45 minutes which will make sure the chicken stays moist and gets cooked. In the last 30 minutes you can remove the foil and bake.

Basting Chicken - Using a ladle or spoon to remove the pan juices from the tray and pouring over the chicken ensure the chicken stays moist. Keep basting chicken every 10 to 15 mins. This step is essential for moist juicy chicken.

Resting the chicken - Once you remove the chicken from oven and let it rest for 15 to 30 mins before carving. This will make sure the juices from the chicken can settle into the chicken meat which makes them juicy. If you try to cut it immediately, the juices may run out everywhere.

Keep the chicken warm - once the chicken is carved ensure you cover them with foil to make them moist. This step will prevent the chicken getting dry.

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