Recipe of the Month – Ron Glass’s Bombay Chicken

Mr Rathbone made this chicken dish as part of the Murder, She Wrote Cookalong and it was SOOOOOO GOOD I’ve decided to make it Recipe of the Month. Here’s Mr R’s lovely thorough feedback on the cooking of the dish.

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I thought I had some idea of what Bombay Chicken might involve but it turns out Mr Glass had a very different idea! This is no bad thing though, as Ron’s dish was easy to prepare, a cinch to cook, and utterly delicious. 

The initial cooking instruction, “Place the chicken in a baking tray with the next 10 ingredients”, was minimalist to say the least!

So I figured it would be better to mix ’em all up in a bowl first. Incidentally, as I was only cooking for two (the full recipe serves 4) I opted to halve the ingredients, knowing there was no room in the freezer for any tasty leftovers. 

I should mention a couple of notes at this point. I used half a teaspoon each of dried oregano and basil as no amount was specified. As this seemed to be a success I would recommend a teaspoon of each if you are making the full recipe. I also used dried prunes, baby capers and pitted green Spanish olives – the latter two ingredients rinsed thoroughly first.

As I had halved the recipe, I used six pieces of chicken instead of twelve. These were duly sourced from my favourite local butcher, Barrett’s of Belsize, who never fail to furnish me with the finest fowl! I prefer legs and thighs for absorbing flavour and whaddya know, this arrangement fitted perfectly in my chosen baking tray. 

I then slathered them with the ingredients and set them to rest in the fridge overnight as per Ron’s instructions. They got a full twelve hours marinading in fact and already smelt mighty fine when I took ’em out and wrapped up the whole caboodle ready for transportation to Miss Hammerton’s abode for the final stages.

The clingfilm was removed, the white wine was added and the tray was ready for the pre-heated oven. The designated one hour cooking time was spot on and the chicken’s irresistible aroma was already making our mouths water as soon as it came out to rest.

Absolutely perfect with some corn on the cob – I’m sure the suggested rice or polenta would work just as well – this was truly a chicken dish to be savoured, complimented by a fine white wine. My lovely host insisted I must cook this for her again and I most certainly will! It’s a surefire winner.

We then settled back to enjoy Ron’s turn in Murder She Wrote, ably assisting Jessica Fletcher in Incident in Lot 7 as Lt Hanrahan.

Nice work Lieutenant – that was some fancy chicken!