Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Arrange the chicken thighs, skin side up in shallow roasting tray.

Toast the fennel seeds by placing them in a small pan over a medium heat, until you can begin to smell the aroma of the spice, about 1 minute. Set aside to cool.

Place the fennel seeds in a mortar and pestle with a three-finger pinch of sea salt and bash until the fennel seeds are mostly ground up.

Add in the garlic cloves and continue to pound to crush them into a paste.

Add in the brown sugar, thyme leaves, lemon zest and olive oil and stir with a spoon until combined.

Spoon the mixture onto the chicken and, using your hands, spread it all over the thighs.

Halve the plums and arrange them among the chicken.

Using the heel of a knife and your hand, press down to bruise the garlic then add this to the tray, nestling it amongst the plums and chicken along with the sprigs of thyme.

Pour the wine into the base of the tray and roast in the preheated oven for around 35-40 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked and the plums have collapsed.

To check for doneness, remove one of the thighs, turn it over and check the meat next the bone. It should come away fairly easily from the bone.

If you want to get technical, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh — it's cooked at around 75°C.

If the chicken is cooked through but the skin hasn't crisped up as much as you would like, simply place the tray under the grill for a few minutes or until golden and crispy.

Depending on which plums you have used, there may be quite a bit of liquid. Pour off all of the juices from the tray into a small saucepan and simmer over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes to reduce.

You can either serve this sauce alongside the traybake in a small jug or just pour the juices back into the tray.

Check for seasoning, top with more thyme and serve hot with crusty bread and a green salad.