Curry Leaf & Garlic Butter Roast Chicken With Roasted Veggies, Za’atar Sweet Potato Fries & Courgette Ribbon Salad

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180℃ fan with the rack positioned in the bottom third of the oven
2. Toast curry leaves and mustard seeds in a pan with the olive oil and 1tsp of butter until crisp, drain, and cool
3. Finely crush the leaves and put the softened butter and garlic in a bowl 
4. Add the curry leaves and mustard seeds, and using a fork, mash it all together until thoroughly combined
5. Add salt and pepper, set aside
6. Put the whole chicken on a board and sprinkle the main cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper.
7. Starting at the neck end, slide fingers under the skin of the breast and upper part of legs, loosening skin.
8. Spread half the curry leaf butter under the skin on the breasts and upper leg meat
9. Stuff 1 peeled onion and 1/2 the whole pod of garlic sliced lengthways inside the cavity of the chicken
10. Place chicken on a wire rack in a large roasting pan and tie the legs together to hold their shape. 
11. Dice the other onion and scatter around the chicken, break up the other garlic cloves and scatter around the chicken
12. Spread the rest of the butter all over the outside of the chicken and sprinkle again with salt and pepper
13. Fill the bottom of the pan with 500ml of chicken stock
14. Roast chicken in the oven for 30 minutes, baste and return to the oven
15. Remove the pan from the oven for the last hour and lay the carrots and potatoes into the stock at the bottom of the tray, replace the chicken on top of the rack and baste all over with the juices
16. Check the stock level and replenish with more stock or water, so there is always about 1” liquid. This helps keep the chicken moist and will also be your gravy
17. Continue basting your chicken every 30 minutes until the chicken is golden and the skin is crisp
18. The chicken is cooked when you insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, and the temperature is 75℃ 
19. Insert a wooden spoon into the main cavity and tilt chicken so that juices drain into the pan, transfer the chicken to a platter and cover with foil and rest 15 minutes
20. Remove carrots and potatoes onto an oven tray, drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast in the oven for a few minutes until slightly charred
21. Set roasting pan with garlic and onions over medium-high heat, scraping up browned bits, add more stock or water if needed, and cook on medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes until garlic and onions have softened completely
22. Arrange a sieve over another saucepan and pour all contents of the pan through the sieve pressing down on the garlic and onions to squeeze all the flavour out
23. Taste and adjust salt and pepper, set aside
24. If you would like a thicker gravy, add a little cornflour mixed with cold water to the gravy and whisk until combined.
25. Serve Chicken Hot with all the trimmings!