Queenie's Sweet and Spicy Roasted Chicken with Tomato Salsa

My new found friend, Queenie, has a very nice chicken recipe which I have been wanting to try. But you know me, the only time I can roll around in the kitchen is during the weekends. And being a chicken lover (I choose chicken anytime over seafood) I always welcome new recipes using my favourite meat.

By the way, if you understand Bahasa Malaysia, do head over to Queenie's. This girl is hilarious with a capital H. She has lots of stories to tell and wise words to share. When I read her posts, more often than not, I will be giggling discreetly (if I'm in the office) or laughing out loud (at home).

I got to know Queenie from the comment she left at Sonia's post. If you want a good laugh, the rolling on the floor kind, please go here or a very sad story here (this one made me cry). In spite of her vocation as a caterer, Queenie is very generous in sharing her recipes. And although she has a heavy schedule of cooking for her clients and her family and all the other work a mother has to do, she still finds time to update her blog regularly. I don't know where her energy comes from and when I think of Queenie, I think of the Energizer bunny. Way to go sis!

Last Saturday, I finally tried this Ayam Bakar Manis Ala Q. I marinated the chicken the day before and did my own estimates of the spices used. It is basically an aromatic dry spice mix. Queenie uses dark brown sugar but since I ran out of that, I substituted with honey instead. As usual, I put the chicken and the marinade in a freezer bag and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

It would be better to rub the marinade with the chicken first before putting in the bag. I just dumped everything in and massaged the bag to evenly coat the chicken.

The next day, I took the chicken out and let it come to room temperature before roasting it. 

As the chicken was roasting, my kitchen was filled with a very exotic aroma. Sort of reminded me of Kuzi Ayam and I couldn't wait to have lunch. As it was, I was very hungry. I think it was due to carbohydrate hunger :) I was thinking of what salad I could do to pair with this chicken and tomato salsa came to mind.

Since salsa also contains cumin and coriander, it would complement the flavors of the roasted chicken. When the chicken was done, obviously I couldn't dig in right away because I had to take photos. Do you find it a hassle to photoshoot your food? Sometimes, I do find it a hassle. Setting up and arranging the platter and props and then adjusting the angles take up time. And the most frustrating part is when there is inadequate lighting. I am still getting the hang of photography.

After calling it a wrap, I sat down and eagerly tasted the chicken. Yummeh!!! It was delicious, with very Middle Eastern undertones. All the ingredients in the marinade came together beautifully and the tomato salsa made an excellent pairing with this dish. I am really loving my low carbohydrate  diet and I am reproducing Queenie's recipe below together with the Tomato Salsa recipe from the book Eat Well Stay Well.

Queenie's Sweet and Spicy Roasted Chicken

Recipe source : Adapted from Queenie

Ingredients :

- 3 chicken legs, thigh and drumstick separated.

Marinade :

- 1 tablespoon coriander powder (serbuk ketumbar)

- 1 tablespoon cumin powder (serbuk jintan putin)

- 1 tablespoon fennel powder (serbuk jintan manis)

- 1 teaspoon chilli powder (or chilli flakes or black pepper)

- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 4 cloves garlic, pounded

- 1/2 inch ginger, pounded

- 3 tablespoons honey

- 2 tablespoons cooking oil

- juice from 1 lime

Method :

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

2. Add chicken to the marinade and coat well.

3. Marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

4. Take marinated chicken out from the fridge and bring to room temperature.

5. Preheat oven to 180C.

6. Place chicken pieces on a lined baking tray. For the thighs, place it skin side down.

7. Roast for 30 minutes. At 20 minutes, turn the chicken pieces and continue to roast until chicken is cooked and browned.

Tomato Salsa

Recipe source : Reader's Digest Eat Well Stay Well (page 111)

(Note : I didn't follow the recipe exactly in terms of amount but used it as a guide)

Ingredients :

- 500g ripe tomatoes

- 4 spring onions, sliced finely

- 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander

- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

- 1 small chilli, finely chopped

- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1/4 cup lime juice

- Salt and sugar to taste (this was not in the recipe)

Method :

1. Cut tomatoes in half and remove the seeds.

2. Dice the flesh and place in a medium bowl along with the spring onions, fresh coriander, mint, chilli, ground coriander, cumin and lime juice.

3. Season with salt and sugar to taste.

4. Stir to combine and then stand for 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop.

I love the flavors of the salsa.

This chicken is delish! Will be on my regular roasting menu.