Murgh Musallam

Directions

1. Yesterday evening, with a friend coming over for dinner, I broke out Madhur Jaffrey's "Indian Cooking" and whipped up a dinnerful of subcontinental dishes, that I thought I'd share with the list. All three recipes derive from which one book, that I cannot recommend highly sufficient as a good overview of all the various aspects of Indian food. None of these dishes are outrageously (even notably) warm, but could be jacked up however you like. Anyway, here's what we had last night:
2. Prep time: 3.5 hrs
3. Cooking Time: 1.5 - 2 hrs
4. Make the marinade: In a blender or possibly food processor, combine 1/2 the yogurt with the ginger and garlic, and pulse till it forms a rough paste. Add in the spices and pulse again to mix. Empty into a bowl (do not rinse out the food processor yet) and add in the other half of the yogurt, mixing well.
5. Skin the chicken, with the exception of the wing tips. Cover the chicken, both outside and the body cavity, with the marinade. Chill, covered, for 3 hrs (the book says to leave it unrefrigerated for 2, but being a little concerned about bacteria, etc. I substituted 3 hrs in the fridge).
6. To make the spice paste, combine the onions, garlic, ginger and almonds in the unwashed food processor and mix into a paste. Add in the coriander, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, salt and paprika and blend well. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pour the mix into the skillet and fry, letting the spice mix absorb the oil, 8-9 min. Add in the lemon juice, garam masala and black pepper and cook another minute. Remove from heat and allow to cold.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
8. When the chicken is finished marinating, place it on a large sheet of aluminum foil (big sufficient to totally enclose it). Rub the spice paste over the chicken, inside and out. Fold the aluminum foil over the chicken and enclose by folding seams together- make sure seams are at least 1 in. above the "floor" of the foil wrapping. Place chicken on a baking sheet in preheated oven and roast, 20 min per lb. or possibly till tender.