/2-inch piece cinnamon bark, ground /2-inch piece mace, ground 8 cloves garlic

1 1-inch piece ginger

Cafreal is one of those dishes where anything seems to go. I was given many variants, exept the one I wanted. A small restaurant in the back of beyond served the most wonderful Cafreal, so good the locals were queuing up for tables. The owner though, flatly refused to give me his recipe. Cafreal is essentially chicken (whole or jointed) marinated in chillies, lime juice (or vinegar) and spices, then either deep fried, barbecued or roasted.

The following recipe is my interpretation but I am still working on it. I have used the roasting method as this produces a great gravy. I also recommend that you make a stock from the chicken carcass, it adds an extra dimension to a risotto.

Rub the salt and lime juice over the chicken (also inside if whole). Grind all the other ingredients together and rub over the chicken. Cover and marinade over night in the fridge.

Heat oven to 325 °C. Place the chicken in a roasting tray and cover with foil (this is important - the chicken must be moist when done and the spices must not burn). For a 4lb chicken, cook for about 2 hrs (adjust the time to the size of bird or if chicken joints are used). Baste several times during cooking. For the last 15 minutes of cooking, remove the foil.

Remove the chicken from the roasting tray and leave to rest. You now have two options for the 'gravy'. Either collect the pan juices as is (no don't skim the fat off) or skim the fat, deglaze and make a gravy as normal. When I had it in India it was served just with the pan juices.

cooking, do not carve into slices ;- this is meant to be eaten with your hands. Serve with plenty of bread to dip the juices up. Why not roast some root veges and garlic in the roasting tray while you are at it.

From archives of rec. Food. Recipes