Roast chicken is my go-to comfort food if we’ve had a really busy week and have eaten out a lot. The week of the Oscars was like that and I was craving a roast chicken. This is a fabulous alternative to the usual traditional flavors in a roast chicken.
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp Thai spice blend or Chinese five-spice powder
½ tsp coarse salt
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime, plus extra 1 lime, halved
3 1/2 lb whole free-range chicken
2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
4 thick slices fresh ginger
2 lime leaves (look for Bart Spices dried lime leaves, from major supermarkets)
7 oz carton coconut cream
7 fl oz chicken stock, hot
1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Mix together the oil, spice blend, salt and lime zest and juice to make a paste. Rub the mixture evenly onto the chicken skin.
Pop the lime halves into the body cavity, along with the lemongrass, ginger and lime leaves. Sit in a roasting tin and roast for 1½ hours, until the chicken is cooked through.
Tip any juices inside the body cavity into the tin, then lift the chicken onto a plate and rest for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour off the fat, then stir the coconut cream, stock and curry paste into the juices left in the tin, and cook in the oven for a further 5 minutes, until hot.
Carve the chicken and serve with the coconut gravy and some steamed greens, such as pak choi, and rice.