Chicken with potatoes, prunes and pomegranate molasses

Here's a one-pot dish to surprise a few regular readers: there's nothing more to it than throwing everything in and waiting. Yes, really. For the amount of work involved, the depth of flavour is remarkable; plus, there's the bonus of minimising the washing-up. It's a dish to keep up your sleeve for the cold weekends to come.

4 people

Serving size

Ingredients

8 whole chicken legs (ie, each with a drumstick and a thigh; 2kg in all)  
16 medium charlotte potatoes, peeled (about 800g net) 
3 large onions, peeled and quartered  
120g pitted prunes  
30g grated fresh ginger  
100ml soy sauce
90ml pomegranate molasses     
1 tbsp maple syrup     
120g sweet mango chutney  
½  tsp whole black peppercorns 
20g oregano sprigs, plus a few picked leaves to garnish

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, then tip into a large casserole dish. Cover with a lid (or thick foil), and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 180C/350F/gas mark 4, and cook for two hours longer, stirring every now and then.

  2. When the time is up, remove the dish from the oven, stir once more, cover and set aside for at least 15 minutes, to rest and allow the flavours to mingle. Garnish with a few oregano leaves, and serve with a sharp green salad and some good bread to mop up the lovely juices.