Buttery Baked Chicken

Chicken marinated with butter and herbs, wrapped in aluminium foil and then baked in the oven. It is a non fussy, simple recipe, requiring few ingredients and minimum preparation beforehand. Of course, since it is baked wrapped inside an aluminium foil, you require an oven for this dish. I like to prepare it not only because it is easy to cook but at the same time, it is healthy and full of subtle flavours as well. This continental style chicken dish goes well with bread (say, garlic bread) or naan (say, butter naan or garlic naan).

Ingredients:

Chicken leg (drumsticks) – 6 pieces.
Butter – 3 tablespoon.
Garlic and Ginger chopped – 1 tablespoon each.
Chilli flakes – 1 teaspoon.
Lemon juice – 1 to 2 teaspoon (half portion of a lemon will be fine).
Green chilli (optional) – 2 (or according to taste).
Herbs – couple of strands of fresh rosemary or thyme or about a tablespoon each if dried. Fresh basil leaves, 5 to 6, or 1 tablespoon if dried.
Pepper (freshly grounded) – in case you don’t have either basil / rosemary / thyme.
Salt according to taste. (If you are going to use salted butter, keep the quantity of additional salt low.)

Method:

In an aluminium foil, marinate the chicken pieces with butter, garlic pods, chopped ginger, chilli flakes, salt and pepper.

Squeeze in some lemon juice.

If you want to make it more hot – slit and add few green chillies to it.

Add any of your favourite herbs like rosemary, thyme or basil (dried or fresh). In case you do not have any of these herbs then you add fresh coriander leaves as well. Or, just add about half a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper.

Fold all sides of the foil to seal the marinade (like a parcel).

Keep the marination in refrigerator at least for an hour.

Bring it out of the refrigerator and keep it in the room temperature for 20 minutes before you start cooking.

Pre heat the oven for 10 mins at 180°C.

Put the aluminium foil wrapped marinated chicken in the oven and bake it for about an hour at 150°C of heat.

After an hour, switch off the oven. Do not open the foil immediately. Keep it at rest (out of the oven) for about 15 minutes.

Open the wrapper, just mix everything once with a spoon and then serve the chicken pieces.Drip a few teaspoons of the resultant buttery juice over each chicken piece while serving.