Nigella Lawson & Yotam Ottolenghi Cook Roast Chicken With Curry Leaf Dukkah | Comfort Icons

It does a lot for me. That was unnecessary, wasn't it? No, no, no, it's a good... Shall we cook some chicken, or what do you say? I say every day. You could ask me every second of any day. I would say, yes, please, let's cook chicken. We're in a Christmassy vibe, but we still had to change it a little bit, of course. True to nature. So I'm going to make you a dukkah to go under the skin of the chicken, but it's not any dukkah. It's got curry leaves in it as well. So Helen went to Sri Lanka, and she came back with a curry leaf dukkah, and they call it the crumble there, but obviously we call it dukkah just so people kind of understand. We call it, I mean, you know, Claudia wrote and told us to, so we do. Yeah, exactly. So we're just using a mixture of coriander seeds, and cashews, and almonds. There's peanuts. And peanuts, as you say, and almonds. And hazelnuts. Lovely. And we're just going to spread them on the tray. Yes. And just roast them for like eight minutes. It's a really nice amount of curry leaves. And they're small, they're small, because often they come more the size of bay leaves and with a bit more leatheriness. They really vary, and I love those fresh ones, those little ones, because they still have all the intensity of the flavour. And... Oh, see, I put mine back. Yeah, well, yeah, you could... I don't know, you're a bit bad behaved, and I'm well behaved. Yes, in some way, in some ways. In some ways, your turn. I only say one thing about the curry leaves. Do not buy the jarred ones that are freeze-dried. They just taste of nothing. You might as well put cardboard in your food. They have nothing to offer to the world. So just these fresh curry leaves, and they freeze really well. No, I like it better like this. Instead of mistletoe, let's kiss under the curry leaf. Don't you think? Beautiful. Yes, I can see that. Yes, it is fantastic. The oil is hot, and I'm just going to throw all the curry leaves in there. Okay, you do that. That's very exciting. Do this before you start everything. You get the oil infused with the curry flavour, and the leaves go crispy. This is a wonderful way to use curry leaves. So just literally 30 seconds, 40 seconds, they just crisp up. So you get a texture, and the flavour oozes out. You're going to use the oil to roast some carrots. What I was thinking... Yeah. Is that I would like to put some extra oil. Teach me. If you had extra oil and you could keep it, it'd be so wonderful just for having to cook. Or imagine a bit of that in a very trad sage and onion stuffing. Delicious. And actually, it's funny that you call it a sage and onion stuffing, because I think that dukkah is a bit of a stuffing. Because when it goes under the skin, it gets that quality. But in England, stuffing has like, you have to have squodge. Squodge and stodge. I'll work on a squodge and you work on a stodge. You carry on being your adorable self. So we're talking about comfort. Do you have something that you just, over the top of your head, says comfort, like food-wise? Well, roast chicken. Not just roast chicken. Any form of chicken, but ideally one that starts off as a whole chicken and is cooked as a whole chicken. Now that... And why do you think that is? Because we've been on tour, Verena, and Verena's hiding behind the curtain. Why not? Does everyone say chicken? No, we quote you, because you're very quotable. The fact that every meal starts with a chicken for you, or every idea of a meal starts with a chicken. When you think about... No, I do. Because you know how the iPhone remembers things? You say, so when you're in the iCal, and if I do TA, anything TA, it automatically suggests, take chicken out of fridge. Really? Because it's always at it. So often, and I've got so many entries that say that, just to remind me if I'm working before I go downstairs. Why is chicken the ultimate international comfort food? What is it about chicken? And I haven't got the answer. It must be about memories of eating it, you know, for always or something, because it can't be just a chicken. It's so cross-cultural, though, isn't it? Yes, it's simple, it's direct. And talking about Christmas, I mean, I guess Christmas is all about comfort, right? Because it's all about the familiar. You don't really stray away. It's a mixture, though, isn't it? Because it's half about comfort and returning to what's familiar, but it's also a time of year when you suddenly, you might go off in a different direction for a party turn. But what about your Christmas? Mine, I am quite, I do like it. The Christmas has to be essentially the same, but I often will add one dish. You see, look, those are very beautifully cut. What I've got here is all the nuts, cashews, almonds, peanuts, and hazelnuts. I'm going to add some chili flakes, some fried shallots, and from the curry leaves, I'm going to put most of them in. They're cool now, cool enough to touch. This is good. Beautiful. It's so important in this case, because this is kind of what will make this dukkah so much more delicious. Would you like to try? Absolutely. Okay, you can have the bigger one. Okay, and then you have to check, we have to check each other's teeth after we've done this. Yeah, we can do that in private. Nice and salty. It's really good. Thank you. So nice. I'm sorry, the reason I've gone a bit silent already is because I'm thinking, what else would I use it for? I know that feeling. So Helen went to Sri Lanka, and she had this at the hotel restaurant, and she went to the kitchen, she asked the chef, so what is this thing? And he called it a crumble, or like a curry crumble or something. Of course, Helen being Helen, she turned it, we call it a dukkah, but it is one. Can you imagine, you could really do a wonderful thing with some little tomatoes, halved, and cook them, and then grill them with that on top. Is that with tomatoes? Would be so nice, yeah. Yeah, tomatoes and curry flavors are so nice together. I've done the carrots, and I'm just going to throw this on this tray. And Nigella, question. Why have you lined it? The tray? For roasting. Oh, because they tend to stick quite a lot. Does it stop them getting caramelly? No, no, it doesn't. It doesn't, not for me. That was unnecessary, wasn't it? No, no, it's a good... What's your ideal Sunday? Talking about comfort, because that's what we're here to talk about. Well, it really depends on the time of year, and what my week's been like. Getting up, making coffee, going back to bed with a book, reading, or maybe, you know, lie on a sofa if I feel very energetic. And then I think I would say, you know, then having my children, and some, and or, your close friends for a late lunch, so I don't have to rush in the morning. And then I also, you know, don't have to have a late night. But essentially, I'm reading and lolling. To make the dukkah, so do you want to mix that together, or do you want to stuff the chicken? I'm going to see if the butter is soft enough. I thought you might be, you know, tricking me and giving me hard butter. No, I gave you soft butter, but also this is a bit warm, so you kind of... You don't want that entirely melting, though. You've got safety with too warm elements. OK, I can do that. So I think that could be almost like enough dukkah. I think I'm not going to use all of it, because I'm going to give you a jar to take home with the rest of it. You're lovely. And so that stays for you. This is like a form of aromatherapy doing this. This is, yeah, it is aromatherapy. It's curry leaf therapy. And butter. Don't we, the butter is also an essential part of the comfort. And you put limes inside. I put limes. I always do lemons. Because it's got that, because I guess the curry leaf and the pistachio kind of set the line. It's quite a small chicken. It's a small chicken. And then, so what I'd ask you to do is just stick some of that under the skin. You don't want me to go right to there. And now I'm going to move it into the roasting plate. I said I'm not using the dukkah butter for the top, because then the nuts will burn. So I'm just going to use my hand to just get some more butter over the chicken. And just spreading it out. I don't think we need all of it, but the more the merrier. The last thing is a bit of salt and pepper. So I'm quite generous with the flaky salt. Yes. Because it really needs it. And it will make the skin a bit crispier. So you really want it all there. Shall we put it in? Absolutely. Verena made some delicious slow-cooked beans. They're also from the book. Oh my god, how wonderful. I told you, I think they just cooked in their own liquid with a bit of olive oil and garlic and some cherry tomatoes. And you eat, as you said, when you eat them at room temperature, and they're just so good. So wonderful. And I think they've had a good, well, more than half an hour to cook. And that's just... And you don't need to do anything. I mean, the texture is wonderful. We sometimes do use croutons, which are really nice. Just a bit of homemade croutons for those. Although we call them beans on toast because we put them on toast. But they don't need... Beans on toast is very... They don't need potatoes coming. Let's grab the carrots, the yogurt. But it's not... I wouldn't know... I don't know if it was literally Christmas if I would, but it's just nice because it kind of frames the carrots in the... And obviously it's delicious as well. I'm just going to lift them and throw them there. You can throw some of these curry leaves. Yes. Because they're so beautiful. Once... And then we'll bring it all to the table and get the whole crew together. Fantastic. And we can have our Christmas feast. Beautiful. I'm lost in silence. The limes and the garlic are still there. I want this. This is the bit I had my eye on. Forget about it. I think you should take over. No, no. What I mean is it's much easier... Just to take... Take that whole breast off and then cut it against the... Sideways. Yes, that's what I was thinking. Because you don't really want... We want to do that. But don't give me any. I just rely on the very good edits here. I'm waiting for the brown meat. What did you have to say? I want an onion. How many clicks does it take to carve a chicken? It's easier to tell people what they should be doing than do it. That's for sure. But everything here is very Christmas applicable. I know because you know so many people do carrots at Christmas. Which I don't normally. I do just do parsnips. But I think I might have to, you know, add this to the repertoire. Oh, you want to keep... Take away from the potatoes. And it's so great. You've got all their eating. Mud in your eye. Thank you guys. Cheers. It tempers the noodles. I never mentioned, we said it on the tour a few times, that that dukkah under the skin is a bit of a nut roast. It is. For me, I'm gutted that we don't have any bread sauce. I love, love bread sauce. Is it bread sauce or mustard? I'm the only one in my family that likes the bread sauce. I still make it just for myself. No, bread sauce has to be. To you, Nigella, for coming and having our pre-Christmas-ish meal with us. Oh, it's so lovely to be invited. I'm going to just carry on eating. Full of comfort. Yeah. Full of comfort. As a sort of comfort that is quite uplifting. Not a comfort that feels just inward-looking. It's the comfort that comes with joy, right, Helen? The comfort and joy. Comfort and joy. That's what Helen writes in her dedication. Comfort and joy.