Djaj Mhammar

Don't Make These Mistakes

Do not crowd the tray. Two trays beat one full one.

Water in the corner, never over the skin.

Fresh lemon at the end as well as the start.

Cooking Djaj Mhammar

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1. Heat the oven to 220°C / 425°F.

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2. Toss the chicken, potatoes and garlic with the oil, 5 tbsp lemon juice, salt, pepper, sumac and oregano until everything is thoroughly coated.

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3. Spread over your largest roasting tray in a single layer, skin-side up, with space around each piece. Use two trays rather than crowd one.

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4. Pour the water into the corner of the tray, not over the chicken — it keeps the base from burning without wetting the skin.

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5. Roast 40 minutes without touching it.

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6. Turn the potatoes only, leaving the chicken alone, and roast a further 25 minutes until the skin is blistered and dark and the potato edges have caught.

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7. Squeeze over the fresh lemon juice, scatter with sumac and parsley, and rest 5 minutes before serving.

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Why the Method Works

A tray this simple lives or dies on how crowded it is. Chicken and potatoes packed together release steam that has nowhere to go, and everything poaches in its own liquid — pale skin, soft potatoes, no dish. Use the largest tray you own and leave a finger of space around each piece. The lemon goes on in two stages: juice at the start, which cooks down into the potatoes, and fresh juice at the end, which does not taste cooked at all.

Storage and Reheating

Refrigerated for 3 days. Reheat at 200°C / 392°F for 15 minutes to bring the skin back. It freezes for 2 months.

Swaps and Variations

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

Serving Djaj Mhammar

• Toum
• A green salad
• Flatbread

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: weights that include bone are counted as if all of it were eaten, so the figures run high. How the figures are worked out.

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