Southern Thai-style Roast Chicken

Clean the chicken pieces under running water, prick them all over with a fork so the marinade could better seep in and leave to dry while you make the marinade.

Using a mortar and pestle or a food processor, grind together white and black pepper, coriander seeds and roots, cumin, garlic and shallots.

Transfer the spice and herb mixture to a large bowl in which the chicken will be marinated, add oyster and soy sauce, salt and sugar and stir them together with a spoon to form a thick paste.

Add the chicken pieces and coat them evenly with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to marinade in the refrigerator for 3 hours to overnight.

Preheat oven to 225C(437F)

For extra crispy chicken skin, add the all-purpose flour and limewater to the chicken and toss to coat before baking. You can skip this step.

Transfer the chicken to the lightly-oiled baking sheet and bake until done, 20-30 minutes.

In the meantime you could make the fried shallots by slicing raw shallots and tossing them with some sugar, salt, ground white pepper and coriander seeds and all-purpose flour. Deep fry them in hot oil until golden-brown or put on a baking sheet and bake along with the chicken, toss and turn occasionally so they cook evenly.

Serve the chicken over sticky rice, topped with fried shallots and with sweet chili sauce on the side.