The chances are pretty slim that I will make it to Sri Lanka for Christmas this year, so this Sri Lankan Baked Chicken will just have to do while I wait to get there. And I am happy to wait, as this chicken dish is just delicious. Grab some paper serviettes, a few flatbreads to scoop up the sauce and eat it with your hands – that is my advice. 
This version of the classic Sri Lankan dish has been westernised for us home cooks. The recipe comes from Sri Lanka: The Cookbook by husband and wife team Prakash Sivanathan and Niranjala Ellawala, who were both born in Sri Lanka. From what I understand the dish is usually cooked on top of the stove, but this version is baked in the oven, making life just a little bit easier. But saying that, it will be absolutely fantastic on the barbecue. 
The recipe for this recipe Sri Lankan Baked Chicken is super easy. Place all the ingredients in a food processor, blitz to a paste and cover the chicken. Let it marinate for a few hours or overnight and cook. Spice, heat, acidity and a good dose of garlic and ginger. Lip smackingly good! Serve it with a crisp salad and a quick sambal of chopped tomatoes, cucumber, coriander, vinegar and some sugar for sweetness. A few flatbreads to mop up the sauce would come in very handy. 
I hope you enjoy this recipe for Sri Lankan Baked Chicken and that it will become a family favourite. Enter your email address below to receive new recipes as they are published :
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Sri Lankan Baked Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 chicken pieces
- ½ onion quartered
- 5 garlic cloves mashed
- 2 cm fresh ginger chopped
- 2 - 3 birds eye chillies chopped
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 5 black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 90 ml vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Put all the marinade ingredients into a food processor and blitz until you have a coarse paste
- Place the chicken into a large freezer bag and pour over the marinade. Mix well and marinate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
- Heat the oven to 160 degrees C.
- Place the chicken in a shallow oven dish with a lid
- Bake for 30 minutes covered
- Remove the lid and bake for another 30 minutes at 180 degrees C
- Pop under the grill for a few minutes for the chicken skin to crisp up
kmwatling
Mar 24, 2022
When you say ‘tomato sauce’ do you ketchup?
heinstirred
Mar 25, 2022
Hello, yes ketchup
jayadhara
Apr 5, 2022
This looks delicious – for the sambal, can you tell me the ratio of vinegar and sugar please? TIA
heinstirred
Apr 5, 2022
Hello Judy. A good pinch of sugar for a tablespoon of vinegar. Taste and add more sugar if you think it needs sweetness. Enjoy!
Caroline
Apr 15, 2022
vinegar not mentioned in your list of ingredients
heinstirred
Apr 15, 2022
Thank you for the reply
Caroline
There is no vinegar in the marinade recipe.
The vinegar mentioned in the blog post refers to the quick sambal I made to serve the chicken with.
Enjoy!
Bev
Sep 22, 2022
Hi I’m wanting to make this wonderful dish but just a bit worried where it says tomato sauce is that tomato sauce as in like what you use for pasta dishes or as in ketchup could you please let me know.
heinstirred
Sep 22, 2022
Hello Bev
It’s as in ketchup – we call it tomato sauce here in South Africa. I have also updated the recipe to clarify. I hope you enjoy it – it is such a delicious dish.
Regards
Hein
Bev
Sep 23, 2022
Hi Hein thank you so much for replying to my question I didn’t want to put the wrong ingredient in and spoil it I’m so looking forward to making this I’ll let you know how it goes.
Bev
Sep 27, 2022
Well I finally made this dish tonight 27/09/2022 and OMG it was absolutely bloody gorgeous and as suggested in your post Hein I mopped the sauce up with flatbread me and my son loved it and it’s definitely a keeper on my favourites list so thank you for sharing your recipe.
heinstirred
Sep 28, 2022
So happy to hear Bev!
Dustin
Jan 25, 2023
For the Bay Leaves – do you blend them up with everything else? Or lay them on top of the dish while it bakes?
heinstirred
Jan 25, 2023
Hi Justin, you blend them in. Enjoy!
Nancy Walters
May 29, 2024
This was absolutely delicious! Perfect recipe. Thanks
heinstirred
May 30, 2024
Such great news, thank you Nancy
Matt
Jun 12, 2024
This was great thankyou. Made for the 1st time and the family loved it. The simple. salad was super too and served with homemade flatbread. Certainly a keeper
heinstirred
Jun 13, 2024
Great news. Happy you enjoyed Matt
Lil
Aug 6, 2024
This was sublime and super easy to put together. Thank you. Served it with coconut rice.
Only concern was when baking chicken covered 30 mins at 320, there was a lot of liquid in the pan. Even after 30 mins uncovered at 350, the liquid remained. Not sure if that was the way it’s meant to be. I removed the chicken to a sheet pan and broiled. Wondering if I could just bake at 350 for 40 mins next time.
heinstirred
Aug 6, 2024
Dear Lil. So happy you enjoyed it. Not sure about the liquid as there is not that much in the marinade recipe.