Sunday, February 3, 2013

Roast Chicken in a Bag

I love cooking and I love cooking short cuts even more. Give me a spice mix in a packet, an instant soup, a curry paste, anything that cuts the mundane hard work and the cooking time and I'm a happy girl. Over the years my love for these kitchen aids (as I like to call them) is fairly well known and friends and family frequently bring me goodies in the guise of these convenient packets, jars and cans.

The most recent acquisition was a stack of gravy and roast mixes that my friend Appu brought for me from London. Nothing fancy, nothing gourmet, just the regular everyday kind of stuff that people there put on their weekly grocery lists. From the numerous envelopes that she'd picked up I fished out this one - Herb and Garlic Roast Chicken.



Chicken is most easily available and it's also far easier to cook than mutton or beef. So, though the husband quite detests chicken, it appears on our table quite often. Keeping his dislike of chicken in mind I always try to make it as interesting or different as possible. Compared to the heavier curries and gravies lighter roasts and grills find more favour and this envelope was right up my street.

The baking bag that comes included in this packet adds a nice element of fun and I love playing with new stuff. Baking bags might be the most incredibly mundane thing out there in Britain but here in India, it's novel enough to have quite some appeal.

So here's what you have to do. Put chicken in bag. Pour in the seasoning powder and a generous splash of  cooking oil and shake the bag to coat the chicken nicely. I used olive oil - just the regular kind - don't waste EVOO here. Seal bag with the clip provided, set in baking dish and put it in the preheated oven. Forget it for 30 mins or so and then carefully cut open the bag and cook further letting the chicken brown and crisp nicely. Easy Peasy!

I did exactly as instructed, the only difference being that I didn't use a whole chicken but one that was cut into pieces. Godrej is my favourite brand.

Here's the chicken spiced and bagged and placed in a baking dish.


I popped it in the oven and this is what I got at the end of the cooking process.


Serve with crusty bread, a salad, potato wedges, or grilled vegetables.

Simple flavours with fabulous results. The hubby approved too!

Appu, if you've read this, please bring me more.And be sure to pick up a few for yourself too :)

In the old days I clamoured for fancy ingredients if someone was coming from abroad. Now I request them to go to the local supermarket and get me simple stuff like these Shake and Bake packets that make life easy and delicious!

1 comment:

Aparna said...

Looks awesome and I'm sure it tasted the same too :). Great way to make the boring old chicken more appealing!