Roast Chicken with Chilli Butter

If you’re looking for a festive centrepiece with a bit of a difference, this is the recipe for you! Chilli Pepper Pete’s Rani Mirch chillies are used with lemon, garlic and Chilli Pepper Pete’s Naga Masala to make a gorgeously flavoursome spiced butter, which is rubbed all over the chicken before roasting. The result is gloriously crispy golden skin and tender juicy meat with a burst of chilli warmth. Serve with roasties and your favourite side vegetables.

Ingredients
A whole chicken around 1.5kg
Coarse sea salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
For the butter:
50g salted butter
1 tbsp Chilli Pepper Pete’s Naga Masala
2 Chilli Pepper Pete Rani Mirch chillies
1 fat clove of garlic
1 lemon

Serves 4

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Weigh out the butter and chop into small pieces to soften it. Then chop the Chilli Pepper Pete Rani Mirch chillies as finely as you can and add to the butter with the Chilli Pepper Pete’s Naga Masala, the crushed garlic clove and about a teaspoon of grated lemon zest. Beat the butter with a spoon until it’s soft and all the ingredients are well mixed in.

2. Remove all packaging from the chicken. Take the lemon you used for zesting, cut it in half, and push both halves into the cavity inside the bird. Lay the chicken in a roasting tin and spread about two thirds of your prepared butter over the breast and legs. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and put in the preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes per 500g, plus an extra 25 minutes.

3. When the time’s up, the chicken should be dark golden and any juices from the meat should be completely clear. Dot the breast with the remaining chilli butter, cover with tinfoil and a clean tea towel, and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

RANI MIRCH
NAGA MASALA
NAGA OIL