To be featured in Madhur Jaffery's cookbook - Spicy aromatic roast chicken

An element of horror swept over me when Madhur Jaffrey wanted to meet again but this time to have me cook 3 of my recipes, 2 of which were labour intensive and hard work on so many levels. But these recipes are to be published in her prospective book that follows the series (where I appear in one episode) and so how could I saw no! And there I was cooking up a storm with real Pakistani meat cuisine to take a main chapter in her new book to compliment her new tv show on Good Food Channel called Madhur Jaffrey's Curry Nation - I made Beef Shami Kebabs, Beek koftas with a poppy seed curry and this gorgeous quick easy spicy roast chicken which is based on my mother's recipe, and which Madhur upon eating said was 'absolutely out of this world!" - what a compliment from the Curry Queen! - and the beauty of this day was it was the Queen's Diamond Jubille and no better way to celebrate it with but the Queen of Curry herself! The day after that was more relaxed, when Madhur and us met at Lahore Kebab House and savoured some real Pakistani food while being filmed for the rest of the show...finally some eating!This recipe brings back lazy Sunday afternoon memories back when my mother would roasted this on the stove (this is a pot roast recipe) - the smell of the carom seeds (ajowan) would waft in the house - this aroma is exactly that of thyme - floral and perfume-like. The digestive benefits of ajowan are incredible, in fact I remember well when we had a tummy ache a great tip is to wash a teaspoon of the seeds with a glass of water - worked wonders. Cumin and coriander - freshly ground and the addition of a couple of dried red chills pounded, add a warmth which is balanced by the yoghurt. In my family this is a recipe that caught on with many and now there are various versions of this - baked or pot roasted. Try this with chicken pieces or even barbequed. Make it your Sunday roast served with some aniseed potatoes and plain Basmati rice - Divine and moreish, that is what real Pakistani home cooking is all about.Ingredients* 1 -11/2 kilo whole skinned chicken* ½ lemon* 1 cup natural yoghurt* 2 tbsp dry roasted ground coriander* 1 tsp dry roasted ground cumin* ¼ tsp carom seeds (ajwain) -  Substitute with dried thyme about 1/2 tsp, won't be the same but close in aroma* 2-3 dry long red chillis* ¼ tsp turmeric* 2 tbsp vegetable oil* salt to tasteMethod:1. Prepare the marinate by mixing the above. Run lemon and a bit of salt (use a little in the marinate too) to whole chicken and then place chicken in the marinate for a minimum of 45 minutes to overnight2. Heat oil in a deep frying pan (with a lid) and seal the chicken on high heat. Then pour about 1 cup water and cover and turn the heat medium low and pan roast until done. Once done and if juices left at the bottom of pan, place chicken on serving dish, turn up heat and fry juices till you have a thick sauce to pour over chicken. Serve with freshly chopped coriander and lemons.