Chicken in Sweet and Sour Sauce

The first part of this recipe is a remarkably good sweet and sour dipping sauce for chicken pieces. These are excellent for finger food and easily prepared for parties. Roast or poach a whole chicken, or just breast meat, pull the breast into strips (or let your guests do this bit) and dip in the finished sauce. The original recipe includes laser root, which is not available, and I suggest asafoetida as an alternative. It probably does not have quite the same flavour as the root but