Lavender Roast Chicken: American Masala

I am a great fan of Suvir Saran, and was delighted to have an early opportunity to check out his new book,American Masala, which will be released soon. This fellow is very much my sort of cook, and cookbook writer, and I am enjoying the reading. Though he is an admired restaurant chef (Devi, NYC), he is clearly also, and possibly mostly, at heart, a home cook. I can well believe that, as he tells it, his guests arrive with tupperware, and make off with the leftovers.

Like another favorite of mine, Deborah Madison, he has a very individual gift for the combining of flavors in distinctive ways, where the whole becomes more than the sum of the parts. Not weird, or even complex, but striking, and well worth repeating. With the exception of a few suggested spices not normally found in more pedestrian of kitchens, all these recipes can be made from supermarket staples. A few minutes at your local Indian grocery will provide the rest- or if you don't have one- they can all be ordered from somewhere wonderful on the internet, Kalustyan's, (yum) for example.

Most of these recipes are not traditional Indian fare, and they are therefore, to me, less daunting. I have made a few traditional Indian dishes, but have no hope of becoming accomplished in these multiple complex cuisines. For that, I must rely on eating in restaurants, or in the homes of people who know what they are doing. But this is American melting pot food, which combines some of the Indian flavors I love, with flavors and methods from other American-ethic traditions, and clever cooking techniques for getting the most from spices. These are clearly do-able recipes for vegetables, grains, meat and fish-ingredients that I can buy at the Giant Eagle, or which arrive weekly in my CSA farmbox.

There is a Goan shrimp curry and a pear chutney, but there are also things like vegetable lasagna, skillet cornbread, meatloaf, and macaroni and cheese. None of them are ordinary, none of them are fussy, and they are calling my name. I'm looking forward to trying them, and will report on more as I do.

A former vegetarian, S.S. now prepares, and eats, meat and fish dishes. And these are lovely. I do find, though, that (like many people who have been vegetarians for substantial periods), he has a way of dealing with fruits vegetables that is much the better for not being an off-hand, side-dish only approach. And his vegetable and pulse recipes just shine.

Nonetheless, my first shot was the lavender roast chicken you see above. I got home from a work trip with a nice organically raised fresh chicken, plenty of fresh rosemary and lavender in my pots on the porch, and a need for rest and simplicity. I made this recipe, and a red cabbage/apple/potato/beet braise of my own devising, and it was good and hit the spot, and I have lovely leftovers. So...this is how you do it, as minimally adapted by moi:

Herb rub:
3 roughly chopped peeled garlic cloves
Tbsp finely chopped rosemary
tsp finely chopped fresh lavender
1 1/4 tsps paprika
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
6 Tbsp butter- softened

Smash up everything but the butter in a mortar and pestle, then mix it up with the butter in a little bowl

a chicken- about 4 lbs, rinsed
10 fresh rosemary sprigs
5 fresh lavender sprigs
a lemon, halved
! tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400F. Gently separate the chicken from its skin, without breaking the skin, by gently sliding your fingers between the two. Stuff that her butter in there, wiggling it in as far as you can, down to the thighs, if possible, spreading it evenly over the bird, and leaving a bit to smear over the outside. Everything else goes inside the bird-except got the butter and balsamic, which get brushed on at decent interviews. SS has you turning the bird as well- which I didn't do, being lazy. I did make a pan sauce, though, with a bit of chicken broth to deglaze the pan. It was very nice, too.

The baby beets, new potatoes, apples, and little red cabbage came in my farmbox this week. They got cooked up with some crushed allspice and caraway seed, balsamic and cider vinegar, S and P, and went down well with the chicken, though you might think they'd clash.

There is going to be a lot more cooked up from this book in weeks to come. So many goodies from such varied sources..and some of my very favorite things. There's even "Im jaddara", which, as it turns out, is a variant of my very most favorite- Mudjaddarah...what's not to like?

Comments

[baking soda]

This hits the right spot Lindy, love a herbed chicken and the combination of vegetables is interesting. Just righ for the weather we're having.

[Tanna]

Hit the spot! I guess so. This sounds like a wonderful book my son will love and me too. Love the bit about the tupperware! That's pretty cool, I think I'll use that as the measure from now on - somebody brings out their own take home container, I'll know I've made the big time.

[Julie]

Oh, Lindy, just what I don't need to hear about -- another tempting cookbook! I'm way too easily tempted by cookbooks in general and this one sounds wonderful. I made a recipe of Suvir Saran's that was posted on the Wednesday Chef which was excellent and I'm interested in seeing what else he has to offer.

I am about to add this to my wishlist. By the way, I recently bought Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant which I read about here. I'm in the process of reading it, and enjoying it very much.

[Suvir Saran]

Lindy, you have me blushing and humbled.
The roast chicken has become quite a staple at our farm.
People from all walks of life (chefs of fame and not, farmer friends, country friends, NYC friends and others alike) have had it and loved it. In fact I made it recently, following the recipe, to test it, as I do with my recipes till they go to production, to catch any errors I can, and i made one substitute, I used duck fat instead of butter, the end result for those that ate that version, their favorite and best-ever roast chicken. I felt ashamed of myself for having made something so easy and delicious so sinful. But I did... and people loved it. The skin was crackling and crisp like paper.... The chicken juicy and aromatic and delicate and not shy of flavor.

Try the corn bread, quite easy and exciting, but also try the corn casserole whilst we still may find some farm fresh corn... you may enjoy the simple sinful pleasure of each of these recipes too... I too am a HUGE fan of mujaddara.... IT is YUMMY and comfort food that rivals the best out there.

Thanks for cooking a recipe from the book. I was surprised to find a review of it even before it's release... how did you get a copy of the book?

Suvir

[lindy]

Baking soda: Somehow I associate roast chicken with spring and fall, too. It hit the spot, alright.
Tanna: With desserts, I'm willing to loan out the tupperware to get the remains out of my reach, so I don't wind up eating them all myself.
Julie: I have a serious cookbook overflow problem too. I was thinking of selling some of my less loved volumes (strange gifts, mistaken purchases, etc) via alibris.com, which has a program for "independent booksellers"- to make little bookshelf space.
Suvir: Whoa- duck fat! Yum. Evil. In a good way-sort of like taking a chicken and turning it into SuperDuck.I love duck and goose fat in cooking-esp love potatotes roasted in same, but I do try to restrain myself-it is sooo bad for us.
I got the book early the old fashioned way-it's a review copy from your publisher!

[Melissa]

Oh, I've been waiting for Suvir's new book to come out for a while now! Have you tried the absolutely amazing (and quite untraditional) tomato chutney he posted on egullet? The recipe makes an insanely large amount but we finished it in days.

[Foodie Pam]

You can see more recipes from American Masala here.

[Colorful Dishes]

Did you know Suvir Saran has a fabulous culinary line now. He has re-designed the mortar & pestle set to assist those with carpal tunnel & some really cool ceramic blade knives. You can see all his new products at colorfuldishes.com .

[suvir saran]

Hi Lindy!
Have you cooked from American Masala since you first got it?
That is the true test of a cookbook and its authors true relevance.
Did you try out any other dishes after making the Lavender Roast Chicken?

Hope you have been well and have cooked away the summers rich produce into memorable meals shared with loves ones.

Here is wishing you and yours a wonderful masala filled year ahead.

Best,

Suvir