WHOLE CURRIED CHICKEN (ELSIE'S CHICKEN)

Whole Curried Chicken (Elsie's Chicken) image

'Elsie' (late) taught my friend to make this very mild 'one pot' meal. It was passed on to me and I have passed it onto others. I think Elsie should be remembered for it! It has curry powder and coconut in, but I categorised it as British due to the vegetable used. Note: You will need a LARGE roasting tin and some cooking foil

Provided by oakleyfamily

Time 3h50m

Yield Serves 5

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

One large chicken (about 2kg)
1kg (peeled weight) of potatoes, cut into large chunks
400g (peeled weight) carrots, cut into chunks (but smaller than the potatoes)
400g (peeled weight) swede, cut into chunks smaller than the carrots
1 large white onion, cut into chunks
2 Tablespoon cooking oil
6 Tablespoons desiccated coconut
2 Tablespoons medium curry powder
2 Tablespoons Apricot Jam
3 Tablespoons plain flour
500ml of chicken stock (I used one Knorr stock cube)
Salt and fresh ground pepper.

Steps:

Put the roasting tin on the hob, add the oil. Cut the potato, carrot, swede and onion as described in 'ingredients' (the different vegetables cook at different rates so it's best to size them), add to the roasting tin. keep the heat quite high and keep the vegetables moving for about 10 minutes. Turn the heat down low.
Now sprinkle the flour on the veg and mix it up Add the chicken stock Add salt and fresh ground pepper
Sit the chicken on top of the vegetables Smother all over with apricot jam Mix the curry powder and desiccated coconut together and sprinkle( mainly) over the chicken but also into the vegetables (the jam will act like glue on the chicken)
Tightly seal the chicken with cooking foil (you may need to use a few sheets to form a good seal, crossing over if necessary. Put it in the oven Gas 6 for about 3 1/2 hours in the lower part of the oven
After 3 1/2 hours very carefully open the foil (in case it needs a little longer you need to keep the foil intact) With the lightest touch see if you can remove a wing. It should virtually fall off. Now the tricky bit. Lift the chicken off the vegetables and set aside to strip. Don't strip the chicken meat over the vegetables as the chicken may collapse leaving bones in your vegetables. Hopefully the sauce is thickened, if not you may need to add a little more flour (mixed first with a little cold water to avoid lumps) Strip the chicken to the bone. It will easily strip and will provide loads of tasty meat. I break the breast meat up and mix it with the rest. You may want to remove the skin, but if you do see if you can take as much coconut off as possible and mix with the chicken meat When I serve it I serve it mixed up rather than separate chicken and vegetables.
I also portion up and freeze in 'takeaway' containers. It freezes well and will microwave in a few minutes to provide a hearty lunch. We all like to improvise and improve but I only ask that you try it Elsie's way first, I am sure you will have a pleasant surprise and may not want to make any changes!