Buttermilk Roast Chicken

1) Place the chicken drumsticks in a large freezer bag, and add the buttermilk and 60ml of oil. Add the bruised garlic cloves to the bag with the crushed peppercorns and salt.

2) Sprinkle in the ground cumin and finally add the maple syrup, and then squish everything in the freezer bag around to mix the marinade and coat the chicken.

3) Leave the buttermilk-marinated chicken in the fridge ideally overnight, or out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7.

4) Take the chicken pieces out of the bag, shaking off the excess marinade, and arrange them in a roasting tin lined with foil. Drizzle over the 2 remaining tbsp of oil.

5) Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until brown, even scorched in parts, and juicily cooked through. Serve hot with vegetables of choice.

Recipe from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson (published by Chatto & Windus) Visit Nigella's site.