Ammachy’s Chicken Roast

You must be wondering why this name for a Chicken Roast. Well, I didn’t name it like that, my kids did. Ammachy, in Malayalam, is used to refer to mom or grandmom. In my case, my kids call my mother Ammachy. And the chicken roast recipe that I am sharing with you today tastes just like how she makes it.

So it tastes like how she makes it, but this is not her traditional recipe. The traditional way of preparing a Chicken Roast in the typical Kerala Syrian Christian requires a lot more time. And that is one of the reasons why I used to avoid making this at home. And instead this would be a delicacy my kids would wait to have when visiting my parents. But seeing the love for this dish, my sister is the one who actually came up with this short cut recipe. The kids still call it “Ammachy’s Chicken Roast” as for them, it’s the taste that matters and not really how I made it..:)

Few things to keep in mind

• Usage of oil: You can make this chicken roast with very little oil. We are not frying the chicken for the recipe. The only ingredients we are frying are the onions and potatoes. If you do not want to use too much of oil, you can brush a little oil on a non stick pan and add thinly sliced onions to it. And let it crisp up and turn to a golden color slowly. You will need to continue stirring so that the onions don’t stick to your pan and this will definitely take a while. For the potatoes again, you can use little oil and roast the thin slices on a low flame instead of frying.

Recipe

Ingredient List

For Marination

• Chicken – 500 gms
• Soya Sauce – 2 tbsp
• Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
• Pepper Powder – 1 tsp
• Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
• Garam Masala – ½ tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tsp

For Roast

• Onion – 3 medium size, sliced thin
• Tomato Ketchup – 1 tbsp
• Potato – 1, peeled and cut into thin circular pieces
• Salt – as per taste
• Oil

Step by Step Process

1. Mix all the ingredients mentioned under marination and let the chicken rest in this for an hour in the refrigerator.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and fry the onions till golden brown. Remove the onions from the oil and let any excess oil drain out. (See Recipe Notes above)
3. In the same oil, fry the potatoes till they are cooked and the edges turn a light golden brown. (See Recipe Notes above)
4. Leave about 2 – 3 tsp of oil in the pan, and remove the rest.
5. Once the chicken has been marinated for an hour, add the chicken along with all the marination in the same pan and let it cook with the lid closed for 5 – 7 min.
6. The chicken should only be cooked half way through as it will continue cooking through the rest of the process.
7. Add half of the fried onions, tomato ketchup and salt, if needed, and continue cooking on medium flame.
8. Keep stirring so that the masala doesn’t get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Continue this till the oil start separating and the chicken and the masala is a nice dark brown color.
9. Add a little bit of water at this stage so that all the masala coats the chicken properly.
10. Add the remaining fried onions, keeping aside a little for garnishing, and mix well.
11. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with the remaining fried onions and the fried potatoes.