Soweto Chicken

This is a heart-warming spicy chicken casserole dish that you can make as mild or as hot as you like.  The original recipe came from Soweto in Johannesburg and was published in Peter Veldsman's excellent cookbook, "Kos van die Eeu" (Food of the Century).  

I was really happy with the way the chicken turned out.  It was very moist and extremely tasty.

Adapted Recipe and Pictures by Amanzi-Fundu

Ingredients

1 x whole chicken

2 x medium or 3 small onions, sliced into rings

1 x can of chunky tinned tomatoes

2 x cloves of garlic, crushed

2 x teaspoons cinnamon

1 x teaspoon turmeric

3 x whole red chilli, fresh or dried

1 x teaspoon mild curry powder

Freshly grounded black pepper

Salt

Method

Add crushed garlic to the canned tomatoes and pour into an ovenproof casserole dish.

Rinse chicken under cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Combine spices, salt and pepper and rub into chicken.

Place chicken in the casserole dish and arrange onion on top.

For a very mild dish, simply slip the chilli into the side of the casserole and remove it before serving. If you prefer your chicken hot, slice the chilli along its length, remove the seeds, chop, and scatter over the chicken.

Cover the casserole dish and pop it into the oven.

Set the temperature to 180°C and cook for 1½ hours if it's a small chicken, or 2 hours for a large one.

I served mine with chips and salad.