Roasted Chicken with Onion Gravy

How about cutting off some fat? No cake or dessert this weekend ok...let's indulge into poultry and roast some birds..

Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

1 medium chicken

Salt & coarse black pepper

1 whole bulb of garlic

1/4 tsp cumin seeds (jintan putih)

1/4 tsp fennel seeds (jintan manis)

1 tsp coriander seeds (biji ketumbar)

4-5 big sized washed potatoes - each cut into 8 equal sizes

1 lemon

a handful of fresh thyme & rosemary

olive oil

Let's roast the bird!:

1. Using a pestle and mortar, pound half of the garlic bulb with the seeds until it becomes a paste. Generously rub the chicken with the paste and a lot of salt and pepper. Put it in a big container, cover and leave it in the fridge for about 4-6 hours. I normally marinate it overnight because the meat will become really tasty.
2. When you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
3. Bring a large pan of salted water to a boiling point,  put the potatoes together with the whole lemon and the other half of the garlic bulb into it and cook for 12 minutes.
4. Drain and allow to steam dry for 1 minutes, take out the lemon & garlic and put aside. Toss the potatoes back in the pan while they are still hot. Put aside.
5. Stab the hot lemon for about 10 times. Take the chicken from the fridge, pat dry with kitchen tower and rub it all over with olive oil. Push the lemon, hot garlic cloves and thyme into the cavity. Put the chicken into a roasting tray, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
6. Take off the foil and remove the chicken into a plate, toss the potatoes into the roasting tray together with the rosemary leave and shake the tray around. Push all the potatoes to the sides of the tray and put back the chicken in the center. Bake for another 40 minutes.
7. Remove the lemon and garlic from inside the chicken and it is ready to serve with onion gravy.

Onion Gravy 

Ingredients:

4 medium yellow onion, peeled and finely sliced

olive oil

5 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp of butter

3 cups of chicken or beef stock - or just use 2 chicken stock cubes with 3 cups of water

2 tbsp cornflour

1. Fry the onion in a little oil under a really low heat, covered, for about 15 minutes until soft and translucent.
2. Remove the lid, turn the heat up and once the onions become golden brown, pour in the vinegar, stir and let it boil. 
3. Turn the heat down and put in the butter, pour the stock and stir. Let it simmer. Turn off the heat and sift the liquid into a bowl and discard the onion. 
4. Put back the liquid into the pan and let it boil. Add the cornflour and stir until you reach your preferred consistency.

adapted from JO's Jamie's Dinners book - modified to suit my taste