Fauzia’s Saucy Baked Chicken

Servings : Serves 4-5

This recipe is by far a family favourite. Takes literally NO effort to make, even a complete novice in the kitchen can make this and have rave reviews! It's also a healthy dish, in the sense that there is no frying involved and just 2 tbsp of oil is used. It's incredibly tasty and very versatile. Can work as a dinner meal or a lunch one, depending on what you serve with it. Leftovers, when shredded off the bones, work beautifully in rolls and sandwiches or in a tossed pasta salad or even as topping for a pizza…I've used leftovers in just about every other meal hahaha! I hope you all enjoy this wonderful recipe as much as I do! 🙂

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken, without skin, cut into 8 or 10 pieces
  • 2 tbsp. oil
  • 3 tbsp. tomato paste/puree (if your tomato paste is of a good bright colored type, then first use 2 tbsp. and check how the color looks when blended with the rest of the ingredients...if you find you need more you can then add as necessary)
  • 1 medium red onion, chopped
  • 1 heaped tsp. garlic paste
  • 2 tsp. red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp. turmeric
  • 2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tbsp. tandoori masala powder
  • 1 mug plain yoghurt
  • 2 green chillies (add more if you want it spicier)
  • 1 bunch of coriander, with stems (not just the leaves)
  • juice of 2 lemons (if your lemons are very juicy then use just the juice of 1)

Instructions

Clean and wash, then drain the chicken and set aside in a bowl.

Put ALL the other ingredients into a blender. Blend everything together until smooth. If you find the color is not as vibrant as you would like, add a tsp. of tandoori masala and a little more tomato paste, and blend again. Then pour over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate, let it marinate preferably for about 2-4 hours, but up to overnight is fine.

Pour everything into a glass pyrex baking dish, cover with foil. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place your baking dish on the center rack and bake for 30-35mins.

(At this point your whole house will have the most appetizing aroma. So be warned, tummies will growl!) 😀

Remove dish, open the foil and turn the pieces over. Baste them with some of the liquid, just scoop with a spoon n drizzle over the pieces to keep them moist. Replace foil and put the dish back in the oven. Bake for another 30-35mins.

Finally remove the dish from the oven and discard the foil. Turn the pieces over once more and baste again with the sauce just to retain moisture, then put the tray back into the oven (without the foil this time) for about 10 minutes or so just to give the pieces a nice color. (If you have a grill in the oven, turn it on at this point to give the chicken a fantastic finish).

Once ready, remove and cover loosely with the foil until time of serving so the heat is retained.

Serving options: I've served this dish with many different things in the past, but the best accompaniment in my opinion is fries, some sort of bread like naan or pita or parathas, a fresh salad and an icy cold drink.

107 thoughts on “Fauzia’s Saucy Baked Chicken
107 Replies
    • W/Salaam, there is no
      W/Salaam, there is no alternative for tandoori masala (unless you make it at home by combining various spices). You can omit it or use paprika powder to add the colour and a bit of extra flavour to the mixture. Yes you can use lime instead of lemon.

  • Salams Fauzia,
    Salams Fauzia,
    I can’t wait to try this tomorrow (all your recipes I’ve tried so far are so fab mA!).
    I had a question on the baking time for boneless pieces.. You mentioned in reply to someone’s question that you can do it with boneless but bake for less time.. can you recommend the time (1kg boneless chicken).
    JzkA!

  • Thanks for your reply!
    Thanks for your reply!
    It was cubes.. How long would you recommend? Also I think I should have used a more flat baking dish rather than a deep one…
    But they turned out fine eventually lol!

    One unrelated question.. With the current Instant Pit craze… Do you have any instant pot recipes? I trust your recipes (and detailed instructions) the most and am struggling to use other ones when it comes to the Instant Pot. Have you used it before and what do you think of the quality of food? I was hesitant to buy it but I needed a pressure cooker, so at the least it will be that!
    Thanks xx

  • Salaams,

    I made the marinade but for some reason it came out brownish in colour and not red like in the picture. I followed the exact recipe so am confused what i ve done wrong.

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