Roasted Spatchcocked Poussin with veggies

Fancy eh? Yeah thats what I thought too when I saw this lil bird at Sainsbury's, only to realize its nothing but a small chicken, something like a Cornish game hen. And spatchcocked is just a way the bird has been cut to suit grilling, baking needs. Anyways, I decided to work with it and was pretty apprehensive since I've never really had the guts to cook a full chicken ever! Even eating a full bird, was never my kinda thing because most of the time the masalas don't catch onto the flesh and if its a big bird like turkey, whatever you do its still bloody tasteless. Sunday roasts, this side of the world are a common thing and I decided to do the same, except I did so on a Saturday :)

The bird (yeah I know, sounds like I'm referring to a chick) was cleaned and had some pepper seasoning on it, but I was sure it would be bland and so jazzed it up a bit. The end result was something I'm very proud of. My first time with a bird (again, sorry to sound so kinky) and it was awesome. Since it was tiny, the seasoning caught on well and the veggies accompanying the roast was even better. I would definitely pick up more of this tiny lil bird for future cooking.

Spatchcocked poussin- 450 gms, skin on (trust me its an advantage when you roast it)

To marinate:

Kashmiri chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice- a splash

Salt and pepper- to taste.

New potatoes- 8 to 10, quartered

Baby carrots- 12 to 15, washed

Asparagus- 8 to 10 heads

Chicken stock- 2 cups (i dissolved two Maggi chicken stock cubes in hot water)

Dried thyme- 1 tsp

Salt and pepper- if required

Olive oil- to drizzle

Mix all the ingredients in the 'to marinate' section together and generously rub onto the poussin. Keep aside till your veggies are half cooked.

In another heavy bottomed vessel, pour the chicken stock, the quartered potatoes, carrots and asparagus. 

Throw in the dried thyme salt (stock might be salty, so add after doing a taste check) and pepper (if needed) and bring to a boil.

After the veggies are half cooked, turn off the fire and keep aside.

In a roasting pan, place the poussin and snugly fit in all the pre cooked veggies around it. 

Drizzle some olive oil on to the bird and the veggies or spread it around with a basting brush.

Pour some of the stock over the bird and place on the middle shelf of an oven preheated at 190C for 45 to 50 minutes.

After about 15 minutes, take the pan out and pour some more stock on the bird and veggies and turn the veggies around a bit, if you can. This is to keep the bird moist. Continue doing so every 15 minutes.

At the end of the cooking time, cut a slice from the thigh or so and see if its cooked, the juices should run clear.

Carve the bird- since its small, each half can be easily gorged on by a person- pour a ladle full of stock over the meat and serve with some garlic bread.

Notes: Like I mentioned before there was already some pepper seasoning on the poussin which didn't really give out too much flavour and since we didn't want a spicy' too Indian' marinade, we went easy on the masalas. Go ahead and add as much chilli and cumin and coriander powder as per your liking.

You can throw in whatever veggies you want..parsnips, sweet potatoes, swede etc etc.

Left over (if any) can be shredded and used in a sandwich :)