Sticky sumac chicken with watercress salsa
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Tara Fisher
Sticky sumac chicken with watercress salsa
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
422Kcal
Fat
15gr
Saturates
3gr
Carbs
40gr
Sugars
13gr
Fibre
7gr
Protein
37gr
Salt
1.4gr
Sarah Randell
Our former Food Director, and previously food editor to Delia Smith, Sarah has written more than 1000 recipes for the magazine. She is also author of Family Baking and Marmalade; A Bittersweet Cookbook among others.
Sarah Randell
Our former Food Director, and previously food editor to Delia Smith, Sarah has written more than 1000 recipes for the magazine. She is also author of Family Baking and Marmalade; A Bittersweet Cookbook among others.
Ingredients
- 650g sweet potatoes or butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3-4cm chunks
- 1 garlic bulb, halved through the middle
- 2 lemons
- 200ml hot chicken stock
- 2 tbsp clear honey
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs
- sea salt flakes, crushed
- 2 tsp sumac
- a handful of green olives or green olives with chilli
For the watercress salsa
- 1 x 75g bag watercress, plus extra to serve
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 small garlic clove, peeled
- a squeeze of lemon juice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp tiny capers
Step by step
Get ahead
Make the salsa a few hours ahead
- Preheat the oven to 220°C, fan 200°C, gas 7.
- Arrange the sweet potatoes or squash with the garlic halves in a tin or baking dish that's about 30cm x 42cm.
- Juice 1 lemon, mix with the stock and honey, pour over the sweet potatoes and toss.
- Put the chicken thighs on top of the sweet potatoes and sprinkle with crushed sea salt flakes and sumac. Roast for 30 minutes.
- For the salsa, add the watercress to a food processor with the mustard, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt and whiz until roughly chopped. Stir in the capers and transfer to a small bowl.
- Slice the second lemon thinly, then halve those slices. After the 30 minutes cooking time, add the lemon slices to the tin with the chicken, layering 1-2 slices on the top of each thigh and scattering the rest in the tin with the olives.
- Roast for a further 10 minutes. Serve with the salsa and extra watercress, and drizzle the chicken with juices from the tin.
