Fattet Djaj (Chicken and Chickpeas with Yoghurt)

So this is truly one of the yummiest chicken dishes I have ever made! This is from a recipe by Claudia Roden, who is a wonderful British chef whose specialty is Middle Eastern cuisine. She has written many great books, this recipe came from 'Arabesque'. I have made it twice now, and it has been really wonderful both times.

And it really is quite easy, really. And yes, I know I always say that! But, you boil a chicken, then layer it over some flatberad & chickpeas, then pop the whole thing in the oven. That is about it.

So I mentioned I've made this twice. The first time was exactly per the recipe below. Then I saved all the broth that I cooked the chicken in & froze it, as you would normally for stock. Stop laughing.

One night I made a roast chicken, and had half of it left over. So I defrosted the 'stock' and gently cooked the roast chicken meat in it for about 10 minutes. The end result was still fabulous.

This serves 6.

1kg natural (full-fat) yoghurt; look to see there is NO sugar
200g Greek style yoghurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1.5 tablespoons crushed dried mint, or a bunch of fresh (the recipe says dried, but I prefer fresh)
salt
1 large chicken (do, do, DO try to get a free range one)
1 large onion, cut in half
1 large carrot, cut into pieces
2 fresh bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
6-8 whole cardamom pods
white pepper
3 very thin Lebanese or pitta breads (I found a fab Afghan bread: just use any flatbread you fancy)
3-4 tbs white wine vinegar
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
100g pine nuts (but almonds also work!)
2 tbs olive oil

1) Mix the yoghurts in a bowl, beat in the garlic & the mint w/ a little salt. Let it come to room temperature.

2) Put the chicken in a large saucepan & cover with water. Bring to the boil & remove any scum (scum is that white stuff you can see in the picture. Don't stress too much about getting every last bit). Add the onion, the carrot, the bay leaves, cinnamon stick & cardamom pods, and salt & pepper. Simmer, covered, for 1-1.5 hours, until chicken is very tender & almost falls off the bone. Set chicken aside & reserve the stock.

3) Open out the flatbreads (if you're using the pitta kind that has a pocket) & toast them in the oven until they crisp & slightly browned. Then break them up into pieces in our hands and spread them at the bottom of a wide baking dish. Mix the white wine vinegar on about 300ml of the strained chicken stock, and pour over the flatbread, adding more if necessary so that the bread is thoroughly soaked & soggy. Sprinkle the chickpeas over it.


4) Pull the meat off the chicken & cut the meat into pieces, removing the skin & bones. Spread the chicken over the soaked bread & chickpeas & cover the dish with foil. Heat through in the oven (pre-heated to 170'c) for 20 minutes before you are ready to serve: it should be very hot.

5) Just before serving, pour the yoghurt evenly all over the dish, spreading the yogurt mix all over the top of the dish. Briefly fry the pine nuts in the olive oil until golden & sprinkle over the top.

Shaariya Medfouna

Or 'Buried in Vermicelli'!

This is from a cookbook by the fabulous Claudia Roden called Arabesque. She really is one of the best English speaking authorities on Middle Eastern Food.

This dish is a speciality of Fez, and it is so yummy. It is a good dish for people who aren't accustomed to much i the way of herbs or spices. It is wonderfully flavoursome, but not overpowering.

In Morocco they also cook pigeons & lamb in a similar way. This isn't the full recipe (which calls for 2 whole chickens). This is the version I made for lunch w/ my gorgeous friend Mikarla.

2 large chicken breasts
4-5 chicken thighs
2 onions, chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp saffron threads
60g butter
2 tsp clear honey
1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)
handful chopped parsley
handful chopped coriander
100g blanched almonds
500g vermicelli nests

Put the chicken into a pan & pour in 500ml of water & bring to a boil. Skim the scum from the surface. Add the onions, half of each of the cinnamon, ginger, and saffron. Add salt & pepper & simmer, covered. Turn the chicken occasionally so they are well cooked all over.

Lift the chicken out of the pan (keep warm somewhere), and turn the heat up on the liquid mix and reduce it slightly. Add the butter, honey & orange blossom water & cook for a few minutes. Taste & season w/ S&P. Add the chopped herbs, the rest of the spices & return the chicken bits to the pan.

Dry roast some flaked almonds in a frying pan until nicely toasted - be careful, they can burn very easily.

Bring a pot of water to the boil, and cook the vermicelli until al dente.

Put the noodles on top of the chicken, scatter the almonds over the top & serve.

Wine Match
I served this with a lovely bottle of lightly oaked Chardonnay from the Bloodwood vineyard. I think the mellower flavours of a Chardonnay work better than the crispness of a Sauv Blanc or Pinot Grigio.  A semillion might also work.