Nadiya Hussain’s Sunday Lunch Our Way
Revitalise your Sunday lunch with Nadiya Hussain's chicken roast, complete with ghee roast potatoes, coriander stuffing, turmeric greens and tomato gravy. As seen on her BBC series, Nadiya's Family Favourites.
From the book
Nadiya’s Family Favourites
Tasty midweek meal ideas
Easy ideas to feed a crowd
Showstopping cakes and bakes
Introduction
I only started making a Sunday lunch once my kids had a serious appreciation for a roast potato. And I must admit that our Sunday lunches are not just limited to Sundays. If we feel up for it, we make it, whatever the day. Of course, like most meals, I don’t go entirely classic. The concept remains but the recipe has been adapted and changed over the years and this is our favourite combination: garlic and ginger spatchcock chicken, ghee roasties, coriander stuffing balls, turmeric greens and tomato gravy. Down with convention!
Ingredients
| For the chicken: | |
| 1x1.5kg | whole chicken |
| 25ml | olive oil |
| 2 tsp | ground ginger |
| 2 tsp | garlic granules |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| For the ghee roasties: | |
| 4 | large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (800g) |
| 50g | clarified butter |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 2 tsp | baking powder |
| For the coriander stuffing balls: | |
| 30g | fresh coriander |
| 20g | pine nuts |
| ½ tsp | salt |
| 1 tsp | ground coriander |
| 40g | fresh breadcrumbs |
| 250g | chicken mince |
| 1 | medium egg |
| 3 tbsp | oil, for frying |
| For the turmeric greens: | |
| 3 tbsp | olive oil |
| 2 | cloves of garlic, chopped |
| ½ tsp | ground turmeric |
| 450g | green beans |
| For the tomato gravy: | |
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
| 1 | cinnamon stick |
| 3 | cloves of garlic, chopped |
| 1 tbsp | tomato paste |
| 3 | tomatoes, chopped (about 450g) |
| ½ tsp | salt |
| 1 tbsp | tamarind paste |
| 300ml | boiling water |
| 1 tbsp | cornflour, mixed with 1 tbsp cold water |
Method
This is a long old recipe with lots of different elements, but that’s what Sunday lunches are all about. Get everyone involved, share the load, and lunch will come sooner.
Start by putting the potatoes into a large saucepan of cold water. Turn the heat up to high and let the potatoes cook for 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, spatchcock the chicken by cutting it through the backbone and opening it up. Flatten the chicken by pushing down on the breast.
Drain the potatoes, then put them back into the pan with the lid on and give them a few furious shakes – this will help to rough up the edges.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Put the clarified butter into a large roasting tray that's big enough to fit all the potatoes. Pop the tray into the oven to heat the butter up for about 15 minutes, until it is smoking.
Put the chicken in another large roasting tray and tease your hand under the skin to create a cavity. Do this all over the chicken.
Mix together the oil, ginger, garlic and salt in a bowl. Now with your hands put this mixture under the skin of the chicken. Do this all over the chicken until you have no more mixture left. Turn the chicken skin-side down in the tray and cover with foil.
Now add the salt and baking powder to the potatoes and give them a good toss in the saucepan. Take the tray of hot butter out of the oven and gently (as the butter is hot) put the potatoes in. You should hear a really good sizzle.
Put the chicken into the oven with the tray of roasties underneath it. Cook for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile make the stuffing balls. Put the fresh coriander, pine nuts, salt, ground coriander, breadcrumbs, chicken mince and egg into a food processor and whiz until the mixture comes together.
Put a medium frying pan on a high heat and add the oil. Divide the stuffing mixture into 8, then wet your hands and shape each one into a smooth ball. Fry for 20 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally so they cook evenly.
After 30 minutes, take the chicken out of the oven. Take off the foil and turn the chicken around to crisp up the skin. Put back into the oven. Give the roasties a quick stir and cook them alongside the chicken for another 20 minutes.
To cook the greens, put a frying pan on a high heat and add the oil. Add the garlic and fry until brown, then add the turmeric and salt and toss in the green beans – these literally take just about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile make the gravy: put a small saucepan on the hob on a medium to high heat. Add the oil to the pan, along with the cinnamon stick and garlic. When the garlic has browned, add the tomato paste, tomatoes and salt and cook gently until the tomatoes have softened. Add the salt, tamarind and water. Let it all cook gently while the chicken cooks, allowing it to thicken. This should only take 10 minutes. When it’s ready, remove the cinnamon stick.
Blitz the gravy using a stick blender, then add the cornflour and water mix and cook for another 5 minutes, giving enough time for the gravy to thicken and the flour to cook out.
Serve the meal with some warmed-up Yorkshire puddings – I always have a stash in the freezer that can be warmed up just before serving. I really hope you enjoy my alternative slightly out-there Sunday roast.
