Festive feast, a toast to the roast

Festive feasts — be it Christmas, Eid, wedding or housewarming — always have a special item that occupies the pride of place and dazzles the guests. This is, in most cases, a roast that can allow the host the right to boast! This could be a suckling pig clutching an apple between its teeth, a whole leg of lamb, roast duck or turkey or the good old murg musallam. We were treated to a delicious machhi musallam by a mezbaan in Lucknow more than a decade back that left us speechless and spellbound. The vegetarians have created a variety of droolworthy roasts for themselves like gobhi musallam, lauki musallam and smoked, stuffed elephant yam (jimikand).

The basic technique remains the same — long marination in a spice mixture that blends flavourful and aromatic ingredients, followed by patient roasting in a pot. Finishing may or may not be done in an oven. All roasts are enhanced by a draping sauce-like gravy. Not to forget the stuffing that the roast can be enriched with. The act of carving and serving individual portions completes the culinary theatre.

If you are planning to have a vegetarian roast using a head of cauliflower or cabbage, the marination time, stir-frying and pot-roasting times are cut down by almost 1/4th compared to the high-bred murg musallam. If yam is preferred, then the time after peeling and boiling yam would be reduced by half.

Let the curtains go up as you usher in the New Year, raising a toast to your preferred roast!

Murg musallam

Ingredients

Chicken 1 kg

Onions (medium, chopped & ground to paste) 2

Garlic paste 1 tsp

Ginger paste 1 tsp

Red chilli powder 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder 1 tsp

Coriander powder 2 tsp

Black pepper powder 1 tsp

Cloves 4-6

Black cardamoms 2

Green cardamoms 2

Cinnamon stick 1x2 inch

Bay leaf 1

Curd 1/2 cup

Oil/butter 1/2 cup

Salt To taste

Mint leaves 1 sprig

Coriander leaves 1 sprig

Filling

Eggs (boiled, shelled,

Steamed rice (saffron-tinged) 1/2 cup

Raisins, cashewnuts 1/2 cup

Grated cheese

Sauce

Onions (sliced fine) 2

Butter 1/2 cup

Garlic cloves (crushed) 4

Barbecue sauce 2 tbsp

Method

• Get the butcher to remove the skin. Make a sharp incision in the middle to remove the gizzards, and trim the chicken. Wash and wipe dry after piercing the exterior all over with a fork.
• Prepare a marinade by mixing in a bowl the curd, ground onions, garlic and ginger pastes, along with the powdered spices and salt. Massage this marinade well inside the cavity and outside. Keep aside for at least four hours, or preferably overnight.
• Heat oil/butter in a saucepan. Put the bay leaf and whole spices in it. When the spices change colour in about 20 seconds, add the marinated chicken along with the marinade. Fry on medium flame for about 15 minutes till moisture evaporates and the chicken is well browned. Lower the heat and cook covered on medium low flame for 30 minutes, turning once or twice and scrape the bottom of the pan to avoid burning. If required, sprinkle 2-3 tbsp of water, stirring briskly to remove the residue.
• Take the pot off the stove and remove the bird carefully to a platter. When cool to handle, prepare a bed of saffron-tinged steamed rice overlaid with grated cheese. Spread the lightly-fried dried fruits and nuts evenly. Secure the legs with a string and seal the cavity with sharpened toothpicks or tightly tied string.
• Replace the stuffed chicken in the pot and roast covered on low heat for 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can use an oven preheated to 160º C for 30 minutes. Switch off the oven and allow the roast to rest on the rack for 20 minutes.
• Prepare the sauce by frying the sliced onions and crushed garlic cloves till these are rich brown. Add barbecue sauce.
• Adjust seasoning. Pour sauce over the roast. Add garnish and prepare to show off your carving skills!