Easy recipes for any cook: from cheat's meals to cooking from scratch

Biscuit recipes

Brown sugar, orange and smoked salt pecans

15 minutes

Prawns and

Siba’s avo-and-chipotle butter prawn toast

5 minutes

Parmigiano Reggiano

Coconut and dark choc-chip cookies

15–20 minutes

Siba’s butter chicken tray bake with cheat’s mash

Serves 6

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 15 minutes, plus 4–8 hours marinating time (ideally overnight)

Cooking Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

For the marinade:

30 g Butter chicken paste
1 T Butter chicken spice blend
300 g double cream plain yoghurt (or thick plain yoghurt)
1 T Paprika
2 t sea salt
1 t fresh ginger, finely grated
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

For the chicken traybake:

6 free-range skinless chicken legs
6 free-range skinless chicken thighs
2 bulbs garlic, top part cut off

For the greens:

1 t freshly ground black pepper
125 g sugar snap peas, trimmed
200 g green beans, trimmed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the mash:

Woolworths mashed potato, for serving
1 cup Milk, plus a little extra to finish
Butter, a large knob

Method

Mix together the ingredients for the marinade. Score each chicken piece with 3 deep incisions and place in a large, flat dish. Pour the marinade over the chicken, making sure it penetrates the incisions. Marinate for 1 hour or ideally overnight.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC and lightly grease a baking tray with oil. Place a griddle pan over a high heat.
Cook the chicken pieces in the hot pan for 4 minutes on each side, until they have charred griddle lines. Transfer to the baking tray, add the garlic bulbs and pour over some of the leftover marinade. Roast for 25 minutes, or until cooked through.
Meanwhile, heat a clean griddle pan until hot. Toss the green beans and sugar snap peas in olive oil and season lightly. Grill for 1 minute on each side, until they have char lines. Set aside.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the mashed potato. Place the frozen potato in a microwave proof bowl with the milk, cover with clingfilm, and microwave for 14-16 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove, and loosen with a splash of milk, and stir in the butter.
Once the chicken is cooked, arrange the grilled greens around the chicken on baking tray. Roast for 5 minutes and serve immediately with the mash.

Cook’s note: Marinate the chicken on Sunday night and you've got dinner ready to get going on Monday when you walk through the door. I use the darker meat of the chicken (legs and thighs) on the bone, as it has more flavour and tends to be juicier than white meat (breasts) and filleted portions.

For even better results, braai the chicken instead of pan grilling it for an intense smoky flavour synonymous with tandoori (which is originally made in a clay oven), then finish it off in the oven to make sure it’s cooked through.

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Siba’s butter chicken tray bake with cheat’s mash

Siba’s butter chicken tray bake with cheat’s mash

Ingredients

Method