Go Back
Print
Berbere Chicken

Roast Berbere Chicken

The exotic and warm spices of Africa transform this humble roast chicken to a moist and tasty bird with a crispy mahogany hued skin.  Rice and veggies will make this a meal to rush home to!

Course Main Course
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1 lemon
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Berbere Spice blend
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 @ 3 1/2 lb (1.6 kg) chicken patted dry with paper towel
  • 3 tbsp butter softened

Instructions

  1. Use a microplane to remove all the zest from the lemon and place it in a mortar. Set the lemon itself aside.

  2. Add the berbere and salt to the lemon zest. Bash everything together with the pestle. Alternatively you can just stir everything very well in a small bowl.

  3. Rub the chicken with the salt mixture, inside and out, really massaging it into every nook and cranny. Let the chicken sit, uncovered, for 2 hours at room temperature.

  4. Preheat the oven to 425F (220C) a half hour before you are ready to roast the chicken.  So it should be hot for a while, not just arrived at 425F when the chicken goes in.

  5. Place the chicken into a skillet or baking dish that will hold the chicken comfortably.
  6. Cut the zested lemon in half and stuff into the cavity of the bird. Tie the legs together.

  7. Roast the chicken until the skin is browned and crispy, and the leg feels nice and loose when you wiggle it. 

    After the first 45 minutes, add the softened butter all over the skin and return to oven.  Periodically baste the bird with the butter and juice dripping from the bottom of the pan.  If upon checking, you feel the skin is getting too dark, just cover the area with some aluminum foil. 

    It is ready to come out when the thigh joint area registers 170F (70C) on an instant read thermometer. This should take around 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. 

  8. While many cookbooks will tell you to reduce the temperature at some point, but as Julia points out, often the chicken is undercooked this way. And that's just no fun. Maintain the oven temperature- it worked perfectly for me.
  9. Let the chicken rest for 10 minute before carving. Squeeze the juice from the lemon halves over the chicken when serving.  You can also use all the juices that are on the bottom of the baking dish for veggies, over roast potatoes or drizzled over basmati rice.


Recipe Notes

This is a fabulous recipe for more than one meal. Leftover chicken can be used in stir fries, chicken soup, quesadillas, even good ole chicken salad! Adapted from Small Victories by Julia Turshen

Below is a recipe for your own Berbere Spice Blend.

3 tbsp smoked paprika,  2 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp ground ginger, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp dried basil, 1 tsp ground white pepper, 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tbsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tbsp fenugreek, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp cardamom, 1 tbsp or more of hot chili or cayenne pepper.

Instructions

  1. If using whole grain (for the fenugreek, cumin and cardamom), lightly toast, on low heat, in a fry pan, for a couple of minutes, before grinding. Cook just until the spices smell nice and toasty. Then grind in a coffee grinder.
  2. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, or Jar and stir so that all the ingredients have been fully combined

Recipe for spice blend from African Bites