Chicken Freekeh
A hearty, rich freekeh dish cooked with chicken.
A hearty freekeh dish cooked with chicken.
Like a rice-and-chicken pilaf, but made with freekeh instead of rice.
Simmer the freekeh until tender and keep the chicken pieces juicy while they cook together.
Ingredients
- half a kilo / 3 cups freekeh
- 2 cups peas
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 tablespoon salt
- half a teaspoon black pepper
- half a teaspoon ginger
- as needed chicken stock
- whole peppercorns whole peppercorns
- cinnamon cinnamon
- cardamom cardamom
- a clove cluster cloves
- bay leaves bay leaves
- hot water water
- a little oil oil
- a little pine nuts pine nuts
Instructions
- Cover the chicken with hot water in a pot over the heat until the scum rises to the surface.
- Once the scum has risen, add the whole peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom, clove cluster, and bay leaves to the chicken pot.
- Leave the chicken on the heat until cooked through, for approximately half an hour.
- Drain the chicken from the pot, then place it in a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Brown the chicken in the oven using top heat only, until it takes on a lovely color.
- Rinse the freekeh lightly in a bowl of water without soaking it, then drain.
- Heat the ghee in a pot, then fry the freekeh in it for approximately five minutes.
- Add the salt, black pepper, and ginger to the pot of freekeh.
- Add the chicken cooking stock to the pot of freekeh, then reduce the heat underneath the pot.
- Leave the freekeh in the pot over low heat until it cooks slowly.
- Fry the peas in a pan with a little ghee, keeping their green color.
- Gently mix the peas with the freekeh in the pot so they do not get mashed.
- Serve the freekeh on a serving platter, then arrange the browned chicken on top.
- Add fried nuts, such as a little pine nuts, over the serving platter if available.