Murgh Musallam/ Roasted chicken

Murgh Musallam meas whole chicken is a festive decadent dish cooked on special occasions. Whole chicken is marinated and then cooked in rich nutty mixture till it becomes fork tender. A very delicious and finger licking good chicken recipe. A guaranteed hit on your tables.
Here is how the recipe goes:

Ingredients

Chicken                               3-4 lbs whole skin removed
Ghee                                    1/4 cup
Cardamoms                          4
Cloves                                  6
Cinnamon stick                       2 inch pc

First Marinade

Lemon juice                         2 tbsp
Turmeric powder                 1/4 tsp
Salt                                      1/2 tsp

Second Marinade

Yogurt                                  1 cup

Coconut                                2 tbsp

Almonds                                10 

Garam Masala                       1 tsp

Red chili powder                   1 tsp

Paprika                                 1 tsp

Coriander powder                 1 tsp

Cumin Powder                      1 tsp

Garlic paste                           1 tbsp

Ginger paste                          1 tbsp

Brown onions                         2 tbsp

Method

1. Mix ingredients of first marinade and apply on the chicken. Let the chicken marinade for at least 30 minutes.
2. Dry roast almonds and coconut and make a fine paste in a coffee grinder.
3. Mix all ingredients from the second marinade including almond and coconut powders and keep aside.
4. heat ghee in a wok and add cardamom cinnamon and cloves. cook till fragrant around a minute.
5. Put the marinated chicken breast side down and brown it. Flip over and brown all other sides.
6. Take the chicken out of the wok and apply the second marinade all over including the stomach cavity. Let stand for another 30 minutes.
7. Put back in the wok when it starts boiling put the lid on. You may need to add some water to start the cooking process.
8. Keep changing the sides of the chicken to cook it evenly from all sides. Add more water f required a little at a time.
9. When chicken is cooked all the way around 50 mins, increase the heat to dry all the moisture. Masala will start browning and sticking to the chicken. When all the ghee leaves the masala, its done. Dish it out and serve with hot roti or naan.

Note:

You can use coconut powder instead of shredded coconut.

Almond butter can be used in place of almonds.

Its better to let the chicken marinade after the second application but you can proceed if necessary.