Whole roasted tandoori chicken with coconut rice and mint raita

by Paul Warburton on 26 February 2010  |  10 comments
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Check out this amazing recipe for whole roasted tandoori chicken with coconut rice and mint raita– for £1.48 per person!

Welcome to our new Frugal Recipe blog! If you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.

 Whole roasted tandoori chicken with coconut rice and mint raita (Serves 4)

This is a fantastic alternative to a Sunday roast. It does require marinating overnight to make it extra special and although you could marinate for 1 hour and it would taste good, it just doesn’t get near the taste of a chicken that’s been marinated overnight - I really urge you to make the effort on this one.  

Ingredients

• 1.3kg chicken, Extra special British free range (£3)
• 200g pure creamed coconut (28p)
• 500g of low fat natural yoghurt (45p)
• 25g of fresh mint (68p)
• 500g Basmati rice (75p)
• 2 green chillies (16p)
• 1 bulb of garlic (24p)
• Thumb size piece of ginger (21p)
• 1 lemon (15p)

The cupboard staples...

Vegetable oil, salt, black pepper, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin and garam masala

Total cost

If you already have the cupboard staples, then according to mysupermarket.co.uk, this trolley was cheapest at ASDA where it came to £5.92 - that's £1.48 per head!

Instructions

• The chicken needs to be marinated overnight – so let’s start with the marinade.  In a large bowl combine 200g of yoghurt, 6 cloves of minced garlic, the thumb sized piece of minced ginger, 2 very finely chopped chillies, the juice of one lemon and one tablespoon of vegetable oil. You need to give the mixture a really good stir to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated. Finally add 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of chilli powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of garam masala and give the mixture a good stir.
• You really want to get the flavours into the chicken, so make three cuts into each of the breasts, legs and thighs. Season the chicken well and then pour over the marinade and really work it into the cuts you’ve made. Now cover with foil and place in the fridge overnight (it’s a good idea to give a turn and another rub in the morning if you can to distribute the flavours a bit more). It can marinade for up to 24 hours.
• Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before you want to cook it and preheat the oven to 200C. Pour off any excess marinade and place the chicken in a roasting tray and put in the oven. The chicken will take 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook (you should baste the chicken with the marinade after 40 minutes of cooking). If it looks like it’s browning too quickly, just cover with foil. Once the chicken is cooked you should leave to rest for 20 minutes in a warm corner of the kitchen.
• Whilst the chicken is cooking you can make the mint raita and coconut rice.
• For the mint raita put 300g of yoghurt in a bowl and mix in 25g of finely chopped mint and a good twist of black pepper. Simple.
• For the rice I would use 75g per person. Wash the rice first and then simmer in large pan of salted water for 15 minutes until cooked. Once cooked drain and add 200g of the grated creamed coconut, fluff up with a fork and season with black pepper. Foil and keep warm until the chicken has rested.
• Happy eating!

A bit about the Frugal Recipes chef, Paul Warburton

Paul Warburton, a lovemoney.com staff member, had a hectic career in the world of hot kitchens and screaming chefs before joining the lovemoney.com products development team.

During these years, under the tutorage of some great chefs, he honed his skills in cooking for numbers within a tight cost and portion-controlled environment.

Now he's planning to regularly offer his help to all budding chefs in the lovemoney.com community, so you can enjoy his original, low-cost recipes with your family and friends every Friday for free!

What lovemoney.com readers have said about Paul's other recipes

"We enjoyed this recipe very much: easy to make and even easier to eat!" varneyrob

"I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious! Seriously good! Five of us feasted on it, and feasted well..." Ibeshy

"I made this recipe on Saturday night, and my 13 year-old son promptly requested it again for the following night!" Malcolm Wheatley

"This is a cracking risotto recipe. Just had it for lunch & it's a winner. More recipes please. Thanks." SavvyLass

"Another delicious offering from Paul. Thank you - keep 'em coming!" Palefire

Please add your own comments using the comments box below!

If you like this recipe, why not also try Paul's other Frugal Recipes: Massaman curry | Roasted pheasant | Portobello mushroom, port and stilton wellington | Smoked mackerel pate on crostini and red onion confit |Rolled breast of lamb with garlic mash and Savoy cabbage | Lemon & rosemary chicken thighs |  Thai Pollock curry with egg noodles | Chunky pea and ham soup| Spaghetti alla carbonara | Pork stroganoff | Green chilli meat balls, sunflower seed couscous salad and mint yoghurt |  Tagliatelle with air dried cured ham and minted peas | Beef, thyme and mushroom loaf with potato dauphinoise | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice | Egg Florentine with smoked cheddar and rocket salad | Beef, mushroom and thyme pie | Spicy tuna, bean and coriander lasagne |  Beef koftas with a feta, spinach and fresh mint salad | Chorizo and pea risotto | Sausage and rosemary hotpot | Beef & thyme (Lacashire) hotpot

Remember, if you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.