If you’re looking for a roast chicken that delivers serious flavour with minimal fuss, this spiced yoghurt spatchcock chicken is a standout. Marinating the chicken in a rich blend of yoghurt, coconut milk and warming spices not only infuses it with bold flavour but also keeps the meat beautifully tender. Spatchcocking helps the chicken cook more evenly and gives you plenty of golden, crispy skin. Whether roasted in the oven or cooked over the braai, it’s an easy, crowd-pleasing centrepiece that feels a little more special than your usual weeknight roast.
Recipe and styling by Claire Ferrandi
Photograph by Dylan Swart
Spatchcock chicken marinated in yoghurt and spices
Ingredients
MARINADE
- 300g full cream plain yoghurt
- 125ml (½ cup) coconut milk
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 15ml (1 tbsp) smoked Spanish paprika
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- handful fresh coriander
- large handful thyme leaves + extra, to garnish (optional)
- 15ml (1 tbsp) ground coriander
- 15ml (1 tbsp) ground cumin
- juice of 1 lemon
- 5ml (1 tsp) chilli flakes
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 whole free-range chicken
Instructions
Spatchcock your chicken, place the chicken on a chopping board, breast-side down with the legs towards you. Using sturdy scissors, cut open the chicken along each side of the parson’s nose and backbone to remove the spine, cutting through the rib bones as you go. Discard the spine bone.
Open the chicken out and turn it over. Flatten the breastbone with the heel of your hand, so that the meat has an even thickness.
For the marinade
Combine all of the ingredients, except the chicken, in a blender and blitz until almost smooth. Pour the yoghurt and spices marinade mixture into a deep roasting dish.
Place the spatchcock chicken in the marinade, and turn it over to coat the chicken on all sides, rubbing the marinade into the skin and leaving a thick coating all over. Cover the roasting dish with cling film and transfer to the fridge to marinate, 12 – 24 hours.
To cook
Preheat the oven to 200˚C or prepare your coals. Remove it from the marinade and reserve a marinade coating on the chicken. Either pan-fry the spatchcock chicken in a hot griddle pan to brown, 10 minutes per side, then return it to the roasting dish with the marinade and cook in the preheated oven, 20 – 30 minutes or until cooked through; alternatively, if cooking the chicken on a braai, place it on a grid over medium coals, about 20 – 25 minutes per side, until cooked through.
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Also See: Puffed pancake with Prosciutto & turmeric eggs
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
