These easy chicken roasts and grills recipes have taken a long time coming. But not for want of experiments. Towards the second half of 2012, we decided to switch from our daily staple curried chickens to roasts and grills simply because they’re a lot quicker and easier, not to mention economical when it comes to calories. When you see the fat from the chicken leave the pieces after a 30 minute roast, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. So for the first one, I thought I’d share a happy compromise for Indian tastebuds – the roasted ginger garlic chicken legs recipe. It’s a favourite with us and we guarantee you’ll love it too.

• 6 chicken legs – I split the chicken legs into thighs and drumsticks as this makes for better meal accountability if you can’t eat a whole leg for every meal.
• 12 pods garlic – These are the small ones available here. If you get big pods, then reduce as per taste.
• 1 and a half teaspoon ginger paste
• Salt to taste – I add 1 and a half teaspoon to 6 chicken legs.
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 tablespoons low fat or skimmed curd
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• Mince garlic and add to the ginger, curd, salt and powders.
• Wash, skin and trim chicken. Almost any meat store will give you trimmed and skinned chicken legs.
• Slit the chicken pieces with a sharp knife to creat tiny incisions.
• Coat each piece with the marinate and keep refrigerated for at least 15-30 minutes. I don’t always follow this rule. Sometimes you just can’t wait for things to marinate!

• Preheat the oven at 180degrees for roughly 15 minutes.
• Grease a roasting pan with a tiny bit of olive oil – ½ a teaspoon should be plenty.
• Add chicken to the roasting pan.
• Roast for 35 minutes on the bake setting. You could turn the pieces in about 15 minutes. But it’s really up to how much attention you can give it. Use this time to stir-fry veggies on the side, catch up on cleaning chores, or have a con call.
• Next, grill for 10 minutes. This gives your chicken a nice crispy exterior with a  soft, juicy inside.
• Discard the extra juices in the roasting pan.
• Eat while it’s still hot.

I’ve found this exercise of roasting and grilling very versatile and time management friendly. It takes a few minutes to marinate the chicken. And even though this method takes 45 minutes of cooking time, it’s cooking time that doesn’t need active watching; also, no more messy pressure cookers lying around the kitchen.