Djejz Mechoui

Spiced Grilled Chicken

The Moroccan spices and sugar-dipped, grilled lemon quarters add an exotic touch to barbecued chicken. Pumpkin and sweet potato stew goes well as an accompaniment and can be cooked on the barbecue alongside the chicken.

SERVES 4

2 × 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) chickens

pinch of saffron threads

1 teaspoon coarse salt

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1½ teaspoons paprika

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 lemons

2 tablespoons icing (confectioners’) sugar

watercress, picked over, to serve

To prepare the chickens, cut them on each side of the backbone using poultry shears or kitchen scissors. Rinse the chickens and dry with paper towels. Open out on a board, skin-side up, and press down with the heel of your hand on the top of each breast to break the breastbone and flatten it. Cut deep slashes diagonally in each breast and on the legs. Using two metal skewers for each chicken, push both of the skewers from the tip of the breast through to the underside of the legs, which should be spread outwards so that the thickness of the chicken is as even as possible.

Put the saffron threads in a mortar with the salt and pound with a pestle. Add the garlic and then pound to a paste. Work in the paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, black pepper, lemon juice and oil. Rub the spice mix into the chickens, rubbing it into the slashes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Bring the chickens to room temperature 1 hour before cooking.

Prepare a charcoal fire or preheat the barbecue and place the chickens on the grill, skin-side up. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, continually turning the chicken as it cooks and brushing with any remaining marinade. The chicken is cooked if the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced. Cooking time can be shortened on a barbecue if a roasting tin is inverted over the chickens to act as a mini oven – reduce the heat to low to prevent burning. Transfer the chickens to a platter, remove the skewers, cover with a foil tent and leave to rest for 5 minutes before cutting in half to serve.

Quarter the lemons and dip the cut surfaces in the sifted icing sugar. Place on the barbecue hotplate. Cook briefly on the cut surfaces until golden and caramelized. Serve the chickens with the lemon quarters and watercress.