Australian · Chicken
Spiced smoky barbecued chicken

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Method
- step 1
- Make the marinade. Smash the garlic with a little salt using a pestle and mortar. Add the lemon zest and juice, the spice mix, chilli, oil and a good grinding of black pepper. Mix to a paste. This can be done in a mini food processor.
- step 2
- Toss the chicken in the marinade and set aside while you light the barbecue. When the barbecue’s hot, lay the bunches of herbs on the grid and put the chicken, skin side up, on top. Close the lid, if your barbecue has one, and cook the chicken on the smouldering herbs for about 10 minutes until the meat starts to colour. Turn the chicken and continue to cook for a further 20-30 minutes, turning as necessary, until it is slightly charred from the burnt herbs and cooked through to the bone.
Cooking notes
When scaling protein-led dishes, weigh the meat rather than counting pieces, and remember that the pan size limits how much you can sear at once.
For volume-to-weight conversions of any ingredient — flour, sugar, butter, salts — use the ingredient converter. To translate the recipe's oven temperature between °C, °F and gas mark, see the temperature converter.
When you scale this recipe up or down, remember that cooking time does not scale linearly. A doubled cake takes longer, but not twice as long; a doubled soup takes roughly twice as long. The cooking-time guide gives sensible starting estimates by dish geometry.
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OpenIngredient density
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OpenFrom the journal
Original essays on the small details.
The why behind the technique — original writing on the ingredient and equipment choices that separate a good cook from a frustrated one.
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Cold, softened, melted — three states, three completely different bakes
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Go deeper
Where this recipe sits in the wider tradition.
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