Fauzia's Kitchen Fun

Chicken Poussin

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Chicken Poussin

A tender, moist and juicy chicken, which is fried and then brushed with a wonderfully spicy poussin sauce.
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

Ingredients for Chicken Marinade

  • 1 small chicken poussin, cut into quarters - using a fork, pierce the chicken all over. Marinate in the ingredients below for at least 2 hours.
  • 3 tbsp. yoghurt
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. garam masala
  • 1 tsp. turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp. garlic paste
  • 1 tsp. ginger paste
  • 1 tsp. chilli powder

Ingredients for Poussin Sauce

  • 2 tbsp. margarine plus 3 tbsp. oil any that you like
  • 1 tbsp. fresh ginger paste
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp. paprika powder
  • 1 tbsp. red chilli powder reduce for milder results
  • 1 tsp. white or black pepper powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder
  • 1 tbsp. white vinegar

Instructions
 

  • For the Chicken
    Once ready to cook, remove the chicken pieces and shake off the excess marinade and discard it. Drizzle a little oil in a pan and then fry the chicken for about 5 minutes per side and set aside.
    For the Poussin Sauce
    Heat the margarine with the oil until hot. Add the ginger and cook until fragrant, then add the vinegar and salt, simmer for a minute then add the paprika, red chili powder, pepper and lemon juice. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the cinnamon powder. Stir together.
    Now dip the lightly fried chicken pieces into this sauce and take them out again. Lay out a sheet of foil on a baking tray and place the chicken pieces on it. Preheat the oven at 170 C then put the tray in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes (turn them over midway through the baking). Turn the heat down to 120 C and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Make sure to brush some of the remaining poussin sauce every now and then on the chicken pieces so they stay moist.
    Serve hot with a side of fries and some extra poussin sauce on the side to dip in!
    Enjoy!

Notes

You can either make this dish with the skin or without, the pic you see has both options, the breast piece was skinless, the thigh & drumstick was with skin. So go with whichever option you like best, although of course the one with the skin is the authentic 'poussin'.

Join the Conversation

  1. I tried this recipe and it was a hit. i thought the chicken will turn hard because of the frying and baking but i was surprised that the chicken remained soft and moist even after four hours. thank you so much Fauzia.

  2. hii..can just chicken thighs be used for this??pls reply asap..i wanna make it today for dinner coz it looks yum!

  3. I am trying this recipe kesho.Hope it turns out great,i am a big fun of poussin.p.s love your recipes.

  4. A.Alkm,

    What is white pepper powder?i hv no idea of how it is..can I use black pepper powder instead?

    1. W/Salaam it is like black pepper powder, just white in colour. Yes you can use black in its place.

  5. I only have apple cider
    I only have apple cider vinegar at home…can I use that instead of the white vinegar?

    1. Yes that should be fine. If
      Yes that should be fine. If the vinegar is too strong, dilute it with some water.

  6. Salam aleykum.. Dear Fauzia,
    Salam aleykum.. Dear Fauzia, I made this today with potato wedges and coleslaw, chicken turned out succulent and I loved the coleslaw recipe, thank you 🙂

    My query is regarding the oil used for frying. I rarely indulge in deep frying as I cannot re-use the oil for frying and do not like wasting all that oil. Ramadan is the only month when I cannot avoid deep-frying.
    To make better use of the oil in this recipe, I also made a batch of your gulab jamuns, then used the oil to fry the chicken quarters. As I noticed a lot of recipes here that involves deep-frying, I’d appreciate your own tips on how you save oil for such recipes, without re-using them for frying again.
    Regards, Mrs S

    1. W/Salaam, what I do is I use
      W/Salaam, what I do is I use a very small frying pan so less oil is used at any given time. It means I would have to fry in more than one batch at times, but we are a small family so that works out fine for me. After re-using the oil 2-3 times, I sieve it in a jar and then use from that for making stuff like curries, pilaus, in rotis/parathas and so on. That way it gets used up as opposed to it being heated and re-heated over and over again. Hope that helps! 🙂

  7. Assalamualaikum,
    Assalamualaikum,

    Can you please tell me for how much time approx. You baked the chicken after frying in the second step?
    And also can I omit the margarine & use 4 tbsps. of oil instead?

    JazakAllah Khair

    1. W/Salaam, 20 minutes at 170 C
      W/Salaam, 20 minutes at 170 C then 15 more minutes at 120 C. Yes you can use oil BUT margarine for this recipe gives better flavour.

  8. Assalamualaikum,
    Assalamualaikum,

    I wanted to ask one more thing please:
    what is the wieght of the 1 small chicken that you have used?

  9. OK!=)
    OK!=)
    JazakAllah Khair, I’ll be making this today in shaa Allah.
    So this means first we have to fry, then dip it in the sauce & then bake first at 170 for 20 mins & then at 120 for 15 more minutes, right?

  10. Assalamualaikum,
    Assalamualaikum,
    I made this today & it turned out amazing alhumdulillah! Very tender & delicious with the coleslaw!:D
    JazakAllah Khair

  11. A.A. I made this for dinner
    A.A. I made this for dinner and it turned out to be AMAZING Mashaallah. Thanks for sharing:)

    1. That will be tricky as this
      That will be tricky as this recipe requires baking for perfect results.

  12. salam fauzia i m a very big
    salam fauzia i m a very big fan of ur recipes n have tried alot of them with success but with this chicken it dried out in the end..i live in zimbabwe n have electric oven n u over cooked them or what i dont know…can u help…???

    1. Thanks! Sounds like the
      Thanks! Sounds like the chicken was overcooked, that is the sure way of drying out any chicken. Make sure you cook it for the recommended time and be sure to preheat the oven before the chicken goes into it.

  13. Asslamualaikum warahmatullahi
    Asslamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu ,please tell me is the chicken with skin and does it have to have skin or can I use normal baby,chicken

    1. W/Salaam, with skin, you can
      W/Salaam, with skin, you can peel the skin off later if you want. I have also made it without the skin and it turned out great too. Yes you can use baby chicken.

    1. There is a new recipe added
      There is a new recipe added every week. In fact in this last week I have added TWO recipes. Please check the front page.

  14. Hi fauzia…well hw do i make
    Hi fauzia…well hw do i make large quantity of sauce??coz the ingredients m using as per the neasuremnt,it ends up turning very little..n if i add butter instead its becoming very oily…i want to maximise the quantity without adding margarine or oil.plz advice

    1. Hi, double or even triple ALL
      Hi, double or even triple ALL the sauce ingredients, not just the butter/margarine.

  15. I had tripled last time but
    I had tripled last time but the sauce becomes very dry….i want it to be a bit liquid type…can i add little water…coz margarine/oil is making it too oily.

    1. Yes absolutely, you can add
      Yes absolutely, you can add water and simmer it for a bit. 🙂

  16. salaam sister. how long will
    salaam sister. how long will I need to bake the chicken if I don’t wish to fry it fully & at what oven temp.

    1. W/Salaam, the chicken is not
      W/Salaam, the chicken is not fried fully. It is just partially fried then baked all the way. Details for the temp and time are given in the recipe instructions above. 🙂

  17. Hey I’ve made this chicken
    Hey I’ve made this chicken 2times and it’s very tasty. I just have a problem ..whenever I make big pieces of chicken it’s not fully cooked. I mean it was very tender literally falling off the bone but the bones of leg pieces had blood traces. It happens whenever I fry or bake large pieces of chicken. Plz help how can I avoid it. Small cut ups don’t look nice when roasted

    1. Thanks for the lovely
      Thanks for the lovely feedback! Am told that happens when the chicken is not allowed to fully drain it’s blood after slaughtering, some stays trapped in the veins and that makes it ooze out during cooking…which I can imagine is very disgusting to see. Ideally this recipe works best with SMALL chicken, as mentioned in the recipe. You could try changing the place where you purchase your chicken or soak the cut up chicken in a water bath before using (refer to my chicken charga recipe for the method of creating a water bath). That might help. Also be sure to let the chicken come to room temperature before cooking.

  18. Assslam o alaikum
    Assslam o alaikum
    Dear i dont have oven so what should i do please tell me im very thankful to you

    1. W/Salaam, as mentioned in the
      W/Salaam, as mentioned in the recipe, you can just fry the chicken until cooked through and omit the baking step.

  19. Tried this recipe today it
    Tried this recipe today it wasn’t a hit! it was sour maybe you can tell me my mistake

    1. Could it be from the yoghurt
      Could it be from the yoghurt (if it wasnt fresh) or too much lemon juice? It has never turned out sour for me, so am guessing could be one of these two issues.

  20. Salams Fauzia maam,
    Salams Fauzia maam,
    U mentioned abt marinating the chicken and later stated ‘once ready to cook,should remove the chicken pieces and shake off the excess marinade’ Ok, i got the marinating part but didnt understand the ccoking. Is it that it should be put to heat the way it is till cooked or?
    Also, u mentioned about pre heating the oven at 170 C. How is an oven pre heated?
    Also, regarding changing sides of the chicken and brushing poussin sauce on the chicken while in the oven, should we open the oven in the middle of baking? is that so?
    lastly, if we dont get a poussin but a 1 kg chicken, is it okay?
    and will the ingredients be used in the same quantity as that of a poussin that you mentioned above or?
    please aid?
    Am new to oven so i have no knowledge on it.
    Awaiting your response,thanks.

    1. W/Salaam
      W/Salaam

      1. After you shake off some of the excess marinade, you fry the chicken in a pan for about 5 minutes per side as mentioned in the recipe. You will later finish cooking the chicken in the oven.
      2. You preheat the oven by heating it BEFORE you put the dish that you want to cook inside it.
      3. Yes, open the oven and turn the chicken pieces.
      4. A 1kg chicken will be fine, just give it a couple minutes more to cook as it is bigger than the recommended spring chicken.
      5. Ingredient amounts remain the same for the slightly bigger chicken.

      Hope I have clarified your queries.

  21. Salams making this tonight…just made the poussin sauce but looks like the cinnamon taste is over powering everything or it will be okay once baked…please help

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