This takes a long time so the trick is to poach the chicken the day beforehand and store the torn chicken and stock separately in the fridge. Everything else is fairly easy to put together on the day. A feast!
Celebration Rice – serves 8
- 1 small chicken, about 1.4kg
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 onion, cut into 6 wedges
- 1 bulb of garlic, skin on and halved widthways
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 5g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
FOR THE RICE:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 40g unsalted butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 300g lamb mince
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 400g basmati rice, washed, soaked in cold water for at least 1 hour and then drained
FOR THE GARLIC YOGHURT:
- 500g Greek yoghurt
- 2 clove of garlic, crushed
FOR THE GARNISH:
- 50g unsalted butter
- 30g blanched almonds
- 30g pine nuts
- ¾ tsp Aleppo chilli flakes or ½ tsp regular chilli flakes
- 4 tbsp pomegranate seeds
Put the chicken into a large saucepan with the cinnamon sticks, onion, garlic, 2 litres of water and 2 tsp of salt. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 70 minutes, or until cooked through. Lift the chicken out and tear into large bite-size chunks when cool enough to handle. Put the chicken into a bowl with the ground cumin and cinnamon and set aside. Strain the stock through a sieve and discard the solids. Measure out 850ml of the stock and keep warm (keep the rest for something else). If you are doing this part a day ahead you will need to reheat the stock and put the spices on the chicken when ready to cook.
For the rice, put the oil and half the butter into a large saucepan, and place on a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 7 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden. Add the lamb, garlic and spices and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, until the lamb has lost its pinkness. Add the rice, 700ml of the warm stock, 1 ¾ tsp of salt and plenty of black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to sit, covered, for another 15 minutes. Add the remaining butter and set aside.
Meanwhile, make the yoghurt sauce by whisking the yoghurt, garlic, ¾ tsp of salt and the remaining 150ml of warm stock in a medium bowl.
Put 2 tbsp of oil in to a large sauté pan on a medim-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 minute, to warm through. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and parsley, then set aside.
Make the garnish by putting the butter into a small frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the almonds and cook for 3 minutes, stirring, until lightly coloured. Add the pine nuts and cook for another 2 minutes, until golden. Remove from the heat and add the chilli flakes.
Spread the rice over a large serving platter. Top with the chicken, then pour over half the garlic yoghurt. Finish with the nuts and butter, followed by the parsley leaves and pomegranate seeds. Serve the rest of the yoghurt alongside.
(Original recipe by Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Noor Murad & Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2021.)
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