Stuffed joloff-spiced chicken with hot peanut & tomato sauce

• garlic cloves↗2

  roughly chopped

• thyme sprigs↗4

  leaves picked and chopped

• lime↗1

  zested and juiced (use ½ the juice for the butter, the rest for the stuffing)

• ground cinnamon↗½ tsp tsp
• ground ginger↗½ tsp tsp
• butter↗35g g

  at room temperature

• whole chicken↗1.8kg kg
• unsalted butter↗15g g
• onion↗1

  finely chopped

• white long grain rice↗75g g

  rinsed until the water runs clear

• groundnut oil1 tbsp tbsp
• sweet potato↗125g g

  peeled and cut into small cubes

• garlic cloves↗2

  sliced

• ginger↗2cm piece cm

  peeled and finely grated

• plum tomatoes↗2 large

  roughly chopped

• lime↗½

  juiced (from above)

• groundnut oil1 tbsp
• onion↗1

  finely chopped

• garlic cloves↗3

  grated to a purée

• ginger↗3cm piece

  peeled and grated

• curry powder↗1½ tsp
• ground coriander↗1 tsp
• water or chicken stock↗150ml
• cherry tomatoes↗400g can
• soft light brown sugar↗2 tsp

  (or to taste)

• Scotch bonnet chillies↗1-2

  (depending on how hot you’d like your sauce), pierced a few times and left whole

• crunchy peanut butter↗150g
• limes↗1 or 2

  juiced

• green vegetables

  to serve

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Make the joloff-spiced butter. Pound the garlic, some sea salt, the thyme and lime zest using a pestle and mortar, then add the spices and the butter and pound more. Add the lime juice gradually, then set aside.

2. 2

   To make the stuffing, heat the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and cook until soft. Add the rice and stir for 1 min, then add enough water to cover by about 2cm and bring to the boil. Boil until the surface of the rice looks ‘pitted’, then turn the heat down very low, cover and cook for 15 mins until the rice is almost cooked (it will cook further inside the chicken). Transfer to a mixing bowl and leave to cool. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

3. 3

   Heat the groundnut oil in a frying pan and cook the sweet potato until golden. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another 2 mins, then add the tomatoes and season. Cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes are soft and the sweet potato is almost tender. Leave to cool, then tip into the bowl with the rice and add the lime juice.

4. 4

   Put the chicken in a roasting tin and carefully loosen the skin over the breast by gently pulling it up and inserting your fingers between the skin and the flesh. Push half of the butter in under the skin, spreading it out with your hands. Season the chicken inside, then spoon the rice stuffing right down into the cavity. Spread the rest of the butter over the top of the chicken, then season. Roast for 1 hr 20 mins. To check it’s cooked, insert a skewer in where the thigh meets the body – the juices should run clear.

5. 5

   Meanwhile, to make the sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the onion until soft. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and cook for another 2 mins, then add the water or stock and the tomatoes. Season. Bring to the boil, add the sugar and the chillies, then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 30 mins. Add the peanut butter and cook, stirring, for another 12 mins. Add more water if it’s too thick, then add the lime juice to taste and check the seasoning. You may want to add more sugar.

6. 6

   When it’s cooked, leave the chicken to rest, covered with foil, for 15 mins, then serve with the peanut sauce and green vegetables on the side.