Roast Chicken (Pakistani Steam Roast)
Roast Chicken (Pakistani Steam Roast) is a popular recipe for a chicken roast marinated in traditional Pakistani spices and steamed to perfection.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 4 lb whole chicken ((see notes))
- 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
- 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp red chili powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 inch piece ginger ((see notes))
- 8 garlic cloves ((see notes))
- 2 serrano peppers ((see notes))
- 2 tsp red chili flakes
- 2 tsp smoked paprika ((see notes))
Instructions
- 1
Traditional Pakistani Roast Chicken is made without skin on the chicken. If you source your chicken from a Pakistani butcher they will skin it for you. If not, follow the instructions in the video below!
- 2
To insure that the chicken is juice and flavored really well on the inside I like to inject it with a spicy liquid marinade as well as massaging the outside with a prepped mixture.
- 3
Melt the butter, squeeze the lemon juice and then mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
- 4
Using a poultry injection syringe, work your way around the chicken and inject the liquid just under the skin (see notes)
- 5
The rule is to inject 1 oz of liquid per pound of meat. Too much, and it will start oozing out. Of course, there will be some leakage, as the video below reflects. Just massage this into the surface of the chicken.
- 6
The most important step is to make sure the chicken is well salted, so rub the salt and massage it in well into the skin. I find 1/2 teaspoon a pound of chicken sufficient as the broth I use has some salt in it too. Feel free to adjust if necessary.
- 7
Next I grind my ginger, garlic and serrano peppers in my mortar and pestle and rub them all over the chicken to flavor it.
- 8
The last step is to use the crushed red chili pepper flakes for some spice and the smoked paprika for some added flavor and color (see notes)
- 9
Heat the cooking oil.
- 10
Sear the meat lightly on all four sides on full heat.
- 11
Add 4 cups of water, cover the pot tightly, lower the heat to medium-low, and let the steam cook the meat.
- 12
Once the meat is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, dry out the liquid to a thick gravy and pour it over the roast just before serving.