Paprika Yoghurt Baked Chicken

Chicken marinated for at least twelve hours in yoghurt, paprika, cayenne, garlic and ginger, then roasted hot on a rack. No country is named, though the ginger-and-garlic-heavy marinade points broadly towards South Asian and East African cooking. The yoghurt marinade is doing real chemical work rather than just adding flavour. Its lactic acid tenderises the meat gently, which is quite different from how a lemon or vinegar marinade behaves, acid marinades are harsher and can turn the surface chalky if left too long, whereas yoghurt can sit for a full day without damage. Yoghurt also clings to the chicken where a thin marinade runs off, so the spices stay on the meat rather than pooling in the dish. Two things in the method are better than they look. The rack over a foil-lined pan lets air circulate underneath, so the chicken roasts on all sides instead of stewing in its own juices, the difference between roast chicken and half-braised chicken. And leaving the oven door shut is not fussiness: opening it repeatedly drops the temperature and the browning stalls. The marinade ingredients are not separated from the rest in the source, and the ingredient list contains no marinade heading at all. Everything except the oil goes into the marinade. Its gluten-free and low-calorie claims have not been carried across as claims.