Ingredients

1. Whole chicken (make slits on chicken) – 700 gms to 750 gms
2. Oil for frying

First Marinade

3. Ginger and garlic paste – 1 tbsp
4. Chilli powder – 1 tsp
5. Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
6. Salt – as per taste

Second Marinade

7. Ginger and garlic paste – 1 tbsp
8. Chilli powder – 2 tsp
9. Crushed chilli powder – 1 1/2 tsp
10. Cumin powder – 1 1/2 tsp
11. Black pepper powder – 1 1/2 tsp
12. Vinegar – 1 to 2 tbsp
13. Lemon juice – 3 tbsp
14. Salt – as per taste
15. Colour (saffron, optional)
16. Curd (thick) – 1/2 cup
17. Oil – 2 tsp
18. Butter – 3 tsp

For frying

19. Oil - 1 tbsp
20. Butter – 1 tbsp

For garnishing

21. Onion (medium, sliced) – 1
22. Chat masala – to sprinkle
23. Lemon wedges – few
24. Salad leaves - as required

Method

1. Mix all ingredients for the first marinade.
2. Make some slits on the chicken and marinate it with the first marinade and keep it aside for 1/2 an hour to 1 hour in the fridge.
3. Take a bowl and add all ingredients of second marinade, taste it to see if the salt, spicyness or sourness is correct or not.
4. Apply the second marinade all over the chicken, even on the inside. Rub nicely. The marinade should be thick, so that it gets nicely coated and penetrates into the slits/cuts in the chicken and also inside the chicken.
5. Cover and keep the marinated chicken in the fridge for about 4 hours or if possible overnight (it tastes more delicious).
6. Before cooking, bring the chicken to room temperature (keep it outside the fridge for about 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour) and then cook it.

There are 2 steps to cook this full chicken.

1. Steaming:

1. You can steam the chicken in a steamer or in any vessel by just cooking without any oil by absorption method. You can refer to my charga recipe for this. The other method is wrapping in aluminium foil and then steaming. I am showing the steaming in aluminium foil method.
2. The advantage of wrapping in aluminium foil is the marinate of the chicken will be well coated and cooked, no liquid or marinate will be wasted as it is wrapped and the chicken is enclosed well.

2. Frying the full chicken on grill or pan or tava:

1. You can use this method if you do not have oven at home. This is just steaming the chicken in a aluminium wrap and frying the chicken with little oil no need to deep fry.

In this recipe I am going to steam and fry the chicken in a kadai. The cooking instructions may be quite long,but I have given this to understand in a better way.

Steaming

7. Take the aluminium foil wide enough and place the marinated chicken and close it from all sides, so that no marinate liquid should come out, as when the chicken is cooked, its liquid can come out. So wrap the chicken with double aluminium foil (to avoid getting tear), that is wrap with one aluminium foil and then again with second aluminium after it.
8. Take a vessel (any deeper or wider vessel) which will be easy to cook full chicken . boil enough water and keep the strainer (the small holes one) and keep the wrapped chicken and close it. The water should be boiling, so that chicken is cooked in steam and the strainer kept should not touch the water. Cook the chicken for 15minutes on one side and then turn the chicken slowly and cook again for 15min by closing the lid switch off and let it rest for 10 mins.
9. Open the aluminium wrap, you can see that chicken is well cooked with marinade.
10. Take the chicken and place it in a plate.
11. The main purpose is to steam the chicken and the chicken gets cooked in its marinade and liquid itself.

Frying the whole/full chicken

12. Heat a wider and deeper kadai enough to cook whole chicken. Add 2 tsp oil and 1 tsp butter. When hot, place the chicken from the plate to the kadai carefully and fry it.
13. As soon as you place the chicken the sizzling sound comes.
14. When the chicken is cooked on one side and colour changes, turn the chicken to the other side and add 1tsp oil and 1tsp butter, cook it until it is fried well. Cook the chicken evenly on all sides.
15. Keep checking the chicken, so that it does not stick to the pan. After sometime turn to the other side and cook it. In-between you can oil or butter as per the requirement. Use tongs and one big spoon to turn the chicken. It will be easy to hold and turn.
16. As the chicken is already cooked, it will get fried soon and we will soon get a tandoori colour or a barbeque colour.
17. Turn it with the help of a tong and hold the kadai also. When it is cooked on all sides and gets a nice charred colour, remove the chicken from the heat and serve with a salad.
18. Or optional, while frying the chicken , I added the sliced onion and drizzle some oil on the corners and cooked the onions with the chicken , so that onions will get the flavour of chicken.
19. When cooked, transfer it to a plate.
20. Sprinkle some chaat masala and lemon juice on it, serve hot.
21. You can cut it into pieces as per the portion you like.

Notes

1. Do not get confused by seeing the long process. It is just cooking the chicken first by steaming, then for the reddish charred colour we are frying it in a kadai.
2. When cooking in a kadai, the masala can splutter all over. So you can close the lid and cook. Cook on a medium flame and in between you can simmer while turning the chicken.
3. Check the marinade as to whether it is spicy or salt is there or not. then apply on chicken.
4. You can add your own spices and marinade it.when you add the curd it should be thick.you can alter with the ingredients according to your taste.
5. You can use kashmiri chilli powder,it will give a good colour.
6. Try to hold the pieces properly,otherwise it can break.
7. While cooking,if the pieces come apart its okay,at last while serving,you can arrange it like a full chicken and serve it.main thing is to get the taste best.
8. I have not given the measurements for oil,as you are just drizzling the oil to give that charred colour,it depends on your cooking method.you can use oil or butter at last.
9. With the remaining chicken pieces,you can make tortilla wrap or salad.
10. Instead of whole chicken can use pieces also,with the same tandoori masala.