This dish is everything I want in a roast chicken dinner: juicy meat, fluffy rice, and tender vegetables, all perfumed with an incredible blend of toasted spices.I’m a chef that first become enamored with cooking watching my incredible grandmother make South Indian magic.
As a South Indian who grew up in Texas, for me “home food” was a mix of my family’s Tamilian cuisine and the culture we were immersed in as new immigrants. My roast chicken recipe highlights elements of both these cuisines: the Texan’s love of a big roast bird burnished in a cast iron skillet along with the spice profile and cooking technique of an Indian biryani.
Bold aromas and rich colors are very important for a good biryani, and most recipes incorporate spices and herbs, such as cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, dried red chiles, and cilantro, which imbue the meat with their aromas as the dish cooks. Here I switch out traditional Indian red chile peppers for a sweeter, denser pepper found in Texas: the Pequin chile. And instead of the anise that's commonly used in Hyderabadi biryani, I opt for allspice berries for a nuanced savory profile.