Butterflied chicken is ideal for the barbecue because the whole bird cooks at the same temperature. Smothered in a spicy marinade and served with kachumber, this is high summer food. Coconut rice and mango chutney would be perfect on the side.
Serves: 4-5
INGREDIENTS
Chicken
3cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
5 cloves garlic, halved
½ cup plain yoghurt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons tandoori masala spice mix (I used the Cassia brand)
1 teaspoon each ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon and turmeric
½ teaspoon ground chilli
¼ teaspoon salt
1.5-kilogram butterflied chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kachumber
½ cucumber, deseeded and finely chopped
½ green capsicum, cored and finely chopped
½ red onion, finely chopped
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh coriander
3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh mint
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon chaat masala
pinch sea salt
METHOD
CHICKEN: In a food processor, blitz ginger and garlic until finely chopped. Add everything except the chicken and oil, then process until smooth. Place the chicken on a lined tray and coat with the marinade. Cover and let marinate for at least 1 hour but up to 6. Refrigerate if marinating for more than 1 hour.
Preheat a barbecue to medium (around 180°C). Drizzle the chicken with the oil and place on the grill, breast side up. Cook, covered, for 1 hour, or until cooked through. Baste for the first half hour only with any remaining marinade. Once cooked, remove from heat, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
KACHUMBER: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
TO SERVE: Cut the chicken into chunks and serve with the kachumber.
Drinks match:
Whenever a new Saint Clair Godfrey's Creek Marlborough Gewürztraminer 2020 ($35) is released, I go into spasms of joy and for hours I can’t answer the phone properly. "Gewürztramorning, you’ve reached Yvonne." Embarrassing. It’s generously dry and spice-saturated, and shows more lychee and ginger than you can trebuchet a tandoori at: it's a New Zealand icon. Saintclair.co.nz
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In Dream Escape, we journey from Japan and Morocco to Italy, India and beyond, sharing recipes inspired by travel, heritage and comfort. We celebrate the champions of the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, explore the stories and recipes of chefs shaped by their cultural roots, and warm up with everything from West African soups and slow-braised lamb to porchetta, butter chicken and beef noodle soup. Alongside destination menus, Scandinavian sweets and cosy pub classics, Chrisanne Terblanche shares her favourite street-side dining spots in Bangkok, while Yvonne Lorkin explores red wine varietals. This issue, we invite you to slow down, turn the pages and escape through food.