Ingredients

Method

For the chicken:
• 1 runner chicken, gutted and cleaned (or 1 free-range chicken)
• 60 g butter
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups white wine
• 5 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
• 6 T canola oil
• sea salt, to taste
For the pot-roasted carrots:
• 60 g butter
• 3 T canola oil
• a sprig thyme
• 4 cloves garlic
• 6 baby carrots, peeled
• For the pistachio dukkah:
• 2 T cumin seeds
• 2 T coriander seeds
• 1 T fennel seeds
• 1 t black pepper
• 60 g sesame seeds
• 100 g roasted pistachios, roughly chopped
• 1 t Maldon salt
For the morogo:
• 30 g morogo or kale
• olive oil, for frying

Method

Ingredients

1. To make the chicken, rub it with the butter and garlic. Place it and all the ingredients in a deep roasting tray and cover with foil. Braise the chicken for 30 minutes covered, then remove the foil, strain the liquid and vegetables and set aside. Return the chicken to the oven and roast for a further 20 minutes uncovered.

2. To make the pot-roasted carrots, place all the ingredients except the carrots in a saucepan and cook until the thyme is fragrant. Add the carrots, cover with a lid and shake after two minutes. Cook for 4 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to cool.

3. To make the pistachio dukkah, toast the cumin, coriander, fennel and black pepper in a small pan. Add the sesame seeds and toast until just turning brown. Add the pistachios. Mix all the ingredients together and season with salt. Fry the morogo or kale in the olive oil until crispy and season with salt.

4. Carve the chicken, garnish with the morogo and dukkah and serve with the carrots.

Cook's note: A Sunday chicken roast is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated meals of the week. Growing up, we had to run to catch the bird. Basically an adult chicken, umleqwa is tougher than a normal chicken so you should treat it like duck or any wild game poultry to maximise its flavour.

Find more South African recipes here.

Photograph: Toby Murphy
Production: Khanya Mzongwana