Chicken drumsticks baked in minty and curry leaf sauce

Eid will not be the same without chicken right. But then for this year's Eid menu, I have turned things around a bit. Instead of making chicken curry I have baked chicken. For the curry, I will be posting Potato curry all served with mugu bai ( dhal and rice pilaf).
So the idea for this recipe came to me while trying to figure out what to do with chicken. I was happy with the potato curry and mugu bai but as it was said together with these two dishes, fundi satani was the condiment of choice. Fundi satani is a chutney-like condiment. But instead of this chutney, I decided to add the chutney to my chicken.

I used skinned drumsticks, with a few slits made on the flesh so more flavours go into the meat.

I made the marinade by blitzing some mint, curry leaves, a small onion, garlic and ginger and of course a little scotch bonnet along with cumin and salt.

Once a rough paste was made  I added a little coconut milk and then after setting aside 1/2 of this mixture, I massaged the remaining marinade into the chicken.  Leave it to marinate for 1-2 hours or more if you have time.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Before baking them I heated a frying pan with some oil about 3-4 tbsp will do. I used coconut oil but you can use any other vegetable oil but not olive oil.  Once the oil is hot, carefully add the chicken pieces in a layer.

 Let it cook  ( don't touch it)  2-3 minutes on high heat, before turning it over. The chicken will stick so wait for a while, once that side cooks it will come off easily.

  Once both sides are golden. Remove to a lightly oiled baking tray.

Spoon the marinade that you set aside earlier before u started to marinate the chicken. Brush it all over the drumsticks and it's now ready to finish cooking in the oven.

Pop the baking tray into the oven and bake the chicken in the oven, for about 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the drumsticks.

Remove and serve.

Author: Nammi

Chicken baked in mint and curry leaf sauce

ingredients:

• 6  chicken drumstick pieces
• 2 sprigs curry leaves ( 20 leaves)
• 2 springs mint leaves. ( 10-15 leaves)
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/2 inch ginger, sliced
• 1/4- 1/2 scotch bonnet ( depends on how hot you like)
• salt
• 1 level tsp ground cumin 
• 1/2 tsp ground black peppercorns
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/2 cup coconut milk 
• 3-4 tbsp oil

instructions:

1. Remove the skin from the drumsticks and make a few slashes across the flesh.  
2. Season with a tiny bit of salt. Place in a bowl or ziplock bag.
3. In a blender or wet grinder add the onions, garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet, spices, 1/2 tsp salt and lime juice and a few tablespoons of water. Blend to a paste doesn't have to be very smooth. 
4. Remove this to a bowl and mix the coconut milk. Remove half of this mixture to another bowl set this aside. 
5. Take one half of the marinade and add into the chicken and massage it into the chicken. Cover and set it aside to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or outside if for 1 hour.  If keeping in the fridge make sure to take the chicken out 1 hour before cooking time. 
6. Heat a large frying pan with the oil and once it is hot, add the chicken pieces. Don't overcrowd, can do in batches too.  Cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side till the skin is brown. 
7. Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees C. 
8. Lightly oil a baking tray.
9. Once the chicken has colored but is not fully cooked through, remove onto the prepared baking tray. 
10. Spoon the marinade you set aside earlier over the chicken pieces, coating them nicely. 
11. Pop into the hot oven and bake till the chicken is cooked through. 
12. Once cooked remove from the oven. Serve.

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