Wednesday I made Nik Sharma’s Hot Green Chutney-Roasted Chicken from his Season cookbook. As far as ingredients go, the only odd item is the Hot Green Chutney, which is another recipe in the book.

In the interest of giving these recipes an honest shot, I followed the directions as written. The chicken is roasted in a roasting pan or baking dish with a couple of cups of chicken broth. You’re supposed to baste the bird with the broth every 20 minutes or so and cook until it hits temperature.

When the chicken was done, I took it out, let it rest for 10 minutes as directed and then started breaking it down into pieces. The top looked gorgeous, but the thighs had been cooking in the stock the entire time and looked rubbery and wholly unappetizing. To salvage, I decided to put the pieces skin-up under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp everything up.

That did the trick, but next time I plan on spatchcocking the chicken (I don’t know the last time I roasted a chicken without spatchcocking it) and not messing with the whole chicken stock business. I think that will solve all of my problems with this recipe.

In the end, the chicken was good. The chutney was quite spicy, so we didn’t use any extra for dipping. My wife and I both liked it. I didn’t even offer any to the kids since I knew the chutney would be too spicy for them.

I am cooking my way through Nik Sharma’s Season cookbook. Read more about it.