Juicy Oven-Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

Equipment

• Roasting tray
• Instant-read thermometer
• Basting brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Step 1: Prepare the chicken

   Clean the whole chicken thoroughly and pat it completely dry.

2. 2

   Step 2: Prepare the marinade

   In a bowl, combine yogurt, cooking oil, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, chili sauce, soy sauce, red chili powder, black pepper, paprika, mixed spices and salt. Mix well.

3. 3

   Step 3: First marination

   Coat the entire chicken generously with the marinade. Let it rest for 30 to 60 minutes.

4. 4

   Step 4: Make deep cuts

   Make several deep cuts across the chicken to allow the marinade to penetrate the meat.

5. 5

   Step 5: Second marination

   Rub the remaining marinade deeply into all the cuts and over the entire chicken. Brush the chicken with melted butter.

6. 6

   Step 6: Oven roasting

   Place the whole chicken on a roasting tray. Roast in a preheated oven at 200°C (400°F) until fully cooked, golden and crispy, approximately 60 to 80 minutes depending on the size of the chicken.

7. 7

   Step 7: Check doneness

   The thickest part of the chicken should reach an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F).

8. 8

   Step 8: Rest the chicken

   Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.

9. 9

   Step 9: Serve

   Pull apart a juicy leg piece and serve hot.

10. 10

    Step 10: Why marinating twice, then roasting hot, gives a juicy bird

    Most roast chickens are seasoned once and put in the oven, and the result is usually the same: flavourful skin, plain meat underneath. This recipe fixes that with a two-stage marinade, and the order of the stages is what makes it work. The first marinade — yogurt, oil, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, chili sauce, soy sauce, red chili powder, black pepper, paprika, mixed spices and salt — coats the whole bird and rests for 30 to 60 minutes, seasoning the surface and starting to tenderise the skin. Then the deep cuts are made, and only then does the second marination happen, with the remaining marinade rubbed deeply into every cut and over the entire chicken, finished with a brush of melted butter. If the cuts came first, the first marinade would run unevenly and risk tearing the skin; by cutting second, the cuts stay clean and the second marinade goes where it is needed — into the meat itself, not just onto the skin. The yogurt in the marinade does quiet work through both stages. It clings to the bird better than a thin, watery marinade, so the spices stay in contact with the meat, and its gentle acidity helps the surface relax so flavour penetrates instead of sitting on top. The melted butter brushed on before roasting has a different job: fat crisps skin. A dry, buttered surface in a hot oven browns and crisps, while a wet, unmarinated surface steams. That is why the recipe insists on patting the chicken completely dry before the first marinade, and why the oven runs at 200°C (400°F) — hot enough to crisp the buttered skin and brown the outside in 60 to 80 minutes, depending on the size of the bird, without drying the meat inside. Two more habits protect the result. Tenting loosely with foil if the chicken browns too fast, as the tips suggest, shields the skin while the inside finishes cooking, instead of forcing you to choose between burnt skin and raw thighs. And the 10 minute rest after roasting lets the juices settle back through the meat, so carving does not spill them onto the tray. Check doneness the way the recipe directs — an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part reading 74°C (165°F) — and the bird comes out golden, crispy outside and juicy throughout, which is exactly what the two marinades were designed to produce.