African Drumsticks

Brighton has been enjoying some truly beautiful sunny days of late, meaning only one thing, barbecues!! Although our little flat isn’t blessed with an outside space of its own this recipe, baked in the oven, provides a barbecue-esque flavour, particularly when served with the jeweled couscous salad, which I will be putting up tomorrow, sure to become a summer picnic staple. The marinade is very simple to make, can be prepared ahead of time, and provides a sticky sweet covering for the chicken. The finely chopped onions, not so finely chopped in my case, had burnt slightly in the oven but this only added to the overall texture and flavour. That you can leave it to do its thing in the oven for 45 minutes means that you have time to get on with preparing the salads, dips or whatever else you want to add.

Adapted from Nigella Lawsons ‘Kitchen' (basically I halved the quantities)

Serves 2

40 ml Worcestershire sauce

2 x 15ml tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tsp English mustard powder

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tbsp apricot jam

½ onion, peeled and finely chopped

5 chicken drumsticks

½ tablespoon olive oil plus a finely chopped clove of garlic (Nigella uses garlic oil)

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Mix the Worcestershire sacue, ketchup, jam, ginger, onion and mustard powder in a shallow dish.
2. Coat the drumsticks in the marinade (if you have time, leave them to marinade in the mixture for a few hours). Put the oil and the garlic into an ovenproof dish, tip it from side to side to ensure the dish is coated in the oil. Arrange the drumsticks in the dish, so that they fit snugly, and pour the remaining marinade over them.
3. Cook for 45 minutes to one hour, basting once or twice. It only took 45 minutes for my chicken to cook, but the time will depend on how deep the dish is.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £4

Kitchen Requirements: OVEN PROOF DISH, SHALLOW DISH