Name: Roti Chicken Copycat Mediterranean Style Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken thigh meat, see notes; 1 tbsp Homemade Roti Chicken Dry Rub; 1/4 tsp cooking oil, such as avocado oil; 1 cup of water, for braising

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Roti Chicken Copycat Mediterranean Style featuring homemade Roti chicken dry rub is nutritiously yummy and tastes just like your favorite Roti restaurant. You can either use chicken thighs or drumsticks. Regarding the cooking method, either braise, broil, or grill shall work out great. I usually use the braising method, which takes less than 30 minutes.

A truly easy and versatile chicken recipe that makes a naturally delicious chicken. Excellent to pair with rice, pasta, noodles, or salad.

How to make a Roti Chicken Copycat Mediterranean Style Dry Rub at Home?

It is super easy to blend a Roti Chicken dry rub at home.

The predominant flavor comes from cumin seeds. I highly recommend you get the fresh organic cumin seeds and grind them into powder at home using a spice grinder. The freshly ground cumin seeds powder has such a refresher, stronger and tastier flavor.

Homemade Roti Chicken Dry Rub Ingredients

Other than cumin, you will also need an assortment of spices, paprika, black pepper, dried oregano, coriander seeds, star anise, ginger, garlic powder, and green cardamom. A tiny bit of sugar and crushed pepper elevates the flavor wonderfully.

The ratio of the spices is the key. If I group the spices into 5-tiered levels based on the volume used in the recipe, out of all 11 spices, you will need cumin seeds the most followed by paprika. Tier 3 level spices include black pepper and dried oregano. Next, tier 4 level spices are coriander seeds and sugar. Last but not least, tier 5 level spices include star anise, green cardamom, ginger, and dried garlic.

Measure out each of the spices and place them into a mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously until fully blended. Congratulations! You’ve just made an easy, tasty, and healthy Mediterranean Style Chicken Dry Rub.

How to Braise the Roti Chicken Copycat Mediterranean Style Easy and Yummy?

Tip No.1 is to sprinkle Roti Chicken Dry Rub evenly on the chicken thighs or drumsticks

Store the homemade chicken dry rub in this 4-oz spice glass jar with a pour/sift shaker lid. Use the sift shaker to sprinkle the dry rub evenly over the chicken on both sides. Gently pat and rub the spice into the chicken.

Tip No.2 is to sear the chicken before braising

Sear the chicken in a hard-anodized fry pan for 2 minutes for each side, a total of 4 minutes, before braising. This will ensure a juicy and tasty chicken.

Tip No.3 is to Braise the chicken properly

Add just enough water to barely cover the chicken, about 3/4 cup for boneless chicken thighs, or up to 1 1/2 cup for bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks. Maintain the medium heat used for searing the chicken, cover the pan with a lid and braise for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the types of chicken we are cooking.

10 minutes for organic boneless chicken thighs, and 20 minutes for bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks.

Last but not least is to brown the chicken toward the end of cooking

Toward the end of braising, the liquid in the pan should be disappearing. Remove the lid, pan fry the chicken and flip every 30 seconds to brown and caramelize the chicken. When done properly, this can potentially fake the grilled chicken.

Use 2 minutes for organic boneless chicken thighs and 5 minutes for bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks.

Enjoy a naturally delicious Roti Chicken Copycat!

Roti Chicken Copycat Mediterranean Style Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Roti Chicken Copycat Mediterranean Style featuring homemade chicken dry rub is nutritiously yummy and tastes just like your favorite Roti restaurant. You can either use chicken thighs or drumsticks. Regarding the cooking method, either braise, grill, or broil shall work out great.

Ingredients

1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken thigh meat, see notes
1 tbsp Homemade Roti Chicken Dry Rub
1/4 tsp cooking oil, such as avocado oil
1 cup of water, for braising

Instructions

Make It In Advance - the Roti Chicken Copycat Mediterranean Style Dry Rub:

Blend and then store the homemade Roti Chicken Dry Rub in an airtight spice glass jar with pour/sift shaker lid.

Prep Chicken:

Remove chicken skins if needed. Rinse under running water thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel.
Use the sift/shaker of the spice jar to generously sprinkle the chicken dry rub evenly over the chicken, on both sides. Pat to rub the spices into the chicken.

Cook the Chicken:

You can either braise, broil or grill the chicken.

For the Braising Method:

Turn the heat to medium and heat a hard-anodized fry pan for 1 minute.
Spray about 1/4 tsp avocado oil and spread out evenly using a silicon spatula lay the chicken flat on the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
Flip the chicken and cook the other side for another 2 minutes.

Add water to the pan that barely covers the chicken, about 1 cup, close the pan with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.
Flip and baste the chicken halfway through.
The liquid should be disappearing by now. Remove the lid and cook for another 2 -5 minutes or so to brown the chicken. Flip the chicken every 30 seconds. 2 minutes for organic boneless chicken thighs, 5 minutes for bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks.

For the Broil Method:

Lay the chicken flat in a baking pan.
For Organic boneless chicken thighs - Broil at high temperature for 40 minutes, and flip halfway through.
For bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks - Broil at high temperature for 60 minutes, and flip every 20 minutes. In the end, turn off the heat, flip the chicken and let them rest in the oven for 15 minutes before removing them from the oven.

For the Grill Method:

For organic boneless chicken thighs - Medium heat, grill for about 45 minutes, flip the chicken every 2 minutes initially, and increase frequency gradually to every minute. Toward the end, flip every 30 seconds or so.
For bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks - medium heat and grill for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Flip the chicken every 2 minutes initially, and increase frequency gradually to every minute. Toward the end, flip every 30 seconds or so.

Notes

You can skip the oil when you are using a hard-anodized fry pan which has a superb nonstick function or broil or grill, and especially when the chicken has some fat attached to it.
Boneless chicken thighs are quick to cook and take about 10 minutes. Other types of chicken including bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks may require more time.