This is one of the dishes my father taught me to cook, the recipe was passed down from our nan. It’s another humble and tasty dish that my whole family love; the flavours are very authentic and remind me of home.
I have added a few threads of saffron to give it a more exotic touch.
Usually, I serve this dish with homemade Tendir Style Bread, hummus and summer salad such as my Crisp Tabouleh Salad – the recipe of which is included in this post. The recipe for hummus and my other Middle Eastern musings will follow in future posts.
Hope you will enjoy this dish just as much as my family and friends do!
Ingredients
1 whole free range or organic chicken about 1,5 kg – cut into pieces at the joints
70-100 gr butter
1 large onion or two medium onions peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp turmeric
Pinch of saffron threads
4 – 6 large potatoes peeled and cut into wedges, I usually make 4 wedges out of one potato
2 medium-size carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch sticks
3 large ripe tomatoes peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped or 1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
4 small sweet peppers deseeded and cut into 2 cm rough squares
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp chopped coriander or parsley
Method
Prepare a large nonstick-lidded frying pan. Heat the pan on medium heat, then add butter and sliced onion, cook stirring occasionally till golden brown and fragrant, add turmeric and cook stirring for another minute. Place chicken pieces skin side down, cook on a medium heat till browned on both sides about 5-7 min each side, add potatoes, saffron threads, salt and pepper stir well, cook for 5 min stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low to avoid chicken from burning and to let it let its juices out. Cover the pan with the lid and cook for further 20-30 minutes giving a stir one or two times. Add capsicum, stir and cook 5-10 minutes, then tomatoes stir and cook for further 3-5 minutes.
Turn the heat off and sprinkle with chopped parsley or coriander. Serve and enjoy with fresh tendir style bread and salad.
Stirring occasionally is important to avoid burning
Beautiful to the eye with popping colours and delicious on palet
Crisp Tabouleh Salad
Ingredients
1 cup coarse ground burghul
1 lemon zest and juice – 1/3 cup
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Lebanese cucumber, seeds removed and finely diced
1/2 red capsicum finely diced
1/2 yellow or green capsicum finely diced
1/2 Spanish ( red ) onion finely diced
1 small punnet cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp chilli flakes ( optional )
Method
Place burghul into a microwave safe bowl. Rinse well till water is clear. Drain leaving a little bit of water ( 1-2 tbsp ) in the bowl. Pour lemon juice and 1 tbsp extra virgin olive on top of burghal, mix and cover with cling film and microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds. Set aside to cool.
Place rest of the ingredients including 2 remaining tbsp extra virgin olive oil and lemon zest into a salad bowl, add cooled burghal and mix well. Cool in the fridge before serving if desired.
Mint and parsley are a must in this salad. They give it fresh crisp taste.
Fresh and zesty this salad is a great addition to summer dinners.
