Persian Chicken Stuffed With Rice

"The rice stuffing is very simple to make and turns out beautifully! If barberries are not available, chopped fresh cranberries or sour cherries are a good substitution. Preparation time does not include marinating time. Adapted from Persian Cooking for a Healthy Kitchen" by Najmieh Batmanglij."
 
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photo by rpgaymer photo by rpgaymer
photo by rpgaymer
photo by Sephardi Kitchen photo by Sephardi Kitchen
Ready In:
1hr 15mins
Ingredients:
18
Yields:
2 Cornish Game Hens with stuffing
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Clean and wash hens. Remove fatty portions and fat from cavity. Marinate 6 hours-overnight with a cup or so of apple juice and salt, cinnamon, cumin, onion and a little paprika (all to taste).
  • Brown the onions and garlic in 1 tbs oil. Add the uncooked rice, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, rosewater, 1 tsp salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth, cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
  • Add the barberries, almonds, raisins, and lime juice to the rice. Mix gently, and cook for several more minutes. Remove from heat. Adjust seasonings to taste.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stuff the hens with the rice mixture, and tie the cavities shut. Rub each with 1 tsp salt, additional cinnamon, cumin, paprika and 1 tsp sugar.
  • Place hens in a greased baking dish. Mix saffron (dissolved in hot water- optional) and about 1/4 cup apple juice, and pour over the chicken. Cover pan with foil.
  • Place in the oven and roast for approximately 45 minutes, or until fully cooked and no longer pink. Baste occasionally.
  • Garnish with lime slices and enjoy!

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Reviews

  1. Mmmm, this chicken was so tasty and full of flavor, and the rice was divine. I just wish there were more of it. I also added some sliced carrots to the roasting pan, and they came out with a delicious glaze from the chicken fat and apple juice. It all made for a really great meal- thanks for sharing.
     
  2. I didn't have any apple juice, so I couldn't make the chicken. But I made the rice to go along with a roast chicken recipe I was making. The rice was absolutely delicious and I will make again many times. I have had a lot of similar persian rice dishes but what I liked about this one was the use of the sultanas along with the barbarries (I liked having both sour and sweet elements). I cooked the rice on high heat for 10 minutes after adding the stock and a bit of additional water, I kept stirring it occasionally and adding a little more water whenever the water would evaporate, until the rice had softened (and water nearly completely evaporated). Then I added the berries, raisins and almonds, put a lid on and let it simmer in low heat for 20 minutes. Then I stirred it a little to push the top layer under the lower layers (to make sure it would cook) and I put a tea towel under the lid and turned the heat off and let the rice sit for 30 minutes (this takes away all the excess moisture). Thank you for this recipe. I hope to try the chicken also in the future.
     
  3. A nice dish. It wasn't constant comment but I was not able to use chicken stock in the recipe and that would have added needed flavouring. Do not leave it out. I used baby chickens, sea salt, to taste, butter instead of olive oil for more flavour, Persian rice which I did not soak, just rinsed in quadrupole the amount for stuffing as I cooked some around the chickens based on others reviews so all ingredients in rice were quadrupled unless otherwise noted. I also sprinkled a little white sugar on the rice. The sugar is not in the ingredients list by the way, just the instructions. I used freshly ground cardamom, Iranian rose water (which I feel is superior in taste, aroma, quality), water in place of the chicken stock with needed sea salt added, somewhat less dried barberries (which require picking over first before soaking and rinsing), golden raisins which I rinsed with the barberries to rid of some of the vegetable oil! I added strands of Iranian saffron directly to the apple juice. (Iranian saffron is the best quality in aroma, taste and colour), plus the rest of the ingredients. If I were to make this again I would pound and soak the Iranian saffron in hot water and try taking the skin off the chickens before marinating, as we don't eat it. I served it with recipe#252416. Made for APRIL 2011 NA/ME TAG!
     
  4. This chicken was out of this world!!!!!! 10 stars I did not have a couple of ingredients (Almonds & Saffron) handy but it did not really matter. The only thing I will change next time I will make it with pieces of chicken rather than a chicken. My husband does not like to imagine the chicken missing its head!!! so I have to cut up the chicken in pieces before I serve it. This will save me some time (stuffing/cutting) I found extra large organic raisins in a local market that made the rice even fancier. The chicken is great coming out of the oven and it is better the next day. Make sure you double or triple the amount of rice everybody is going to want more! Thank you SK for this great exotic and fairly simple recipe.
     
  5. If you made it to this page, don't hesitate: make this recipe. My wife and teenage kids all enjoyed this (and told me to write "delicious" in our review!). As a meal for a family of five, I opted for a large whole chicken and, with no access to barberries and with cranberries out of season, I used dried cranberries. (Also, because of allergies, I had to forgo the almonds -- I imagine they make the taste even more complex and delicious.) The only thing I'd do differently next time? I'll make MORE of the rice stuffing and, like Thanksgiving, cook the extra in baking dish alongside the chicken. (Again, my family told me to say that -- they wanted more of that rice stuffing!) One final positive: the rub in Step 4 results in a really beautiful (and tasty) presentation. Thanks, Sephardi Kitchen; this was so good! Made for PAC 2010.
     
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Tweaks

  1. A nice dish. It wasn't constant comment but I was not able to use chicken stock in the recipe and that would have added needed flavouring. Do not leave it out. I used baby chickens, sea salt, to taste, butter instead of olive oil for more flavour, Persian rice which I did not soak, just rinsed in quadrupole the amount for stuffing as I cooked some around the chickens based on others reviews so all ingredients in rice were quadrupled unless otherwise noted. I also sprinkled a little white sugar on the rice. The sugar is not in the ingredients list by the way, just the instructions. I used freshly ground cardamom, Iranian rose water (which I feel is superior in taste, aroma, quality), water in place of the chicken stock with needed sea salt added, somewhat less dried barberries (which require picking over first before soaking and rinsing), golden raisins which I rinsed with the barberries to rid of some of the vegetable oil! I added strands of Iranian saffron directly to the apple juice. (Iranian saffron is the best quality in aroma, taste and colour), plus the rest of the ingredients. If I were to make this again I would pound and soak the Iranian saffron in hot water and try taking the skin off the chickens before marinating, as we don't eat it. I served it with recipe#252416. Made for APRIL 2011 NA/ME TAG!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I am a junior at the University of Illinois @ Urbana Champaign, studying Speech and Hearing Science with a concentration in Audiology. I grew up in a very small rural town in northern Illinois and attended a residential high school (IMSA) in Aurora. I love soccer, fishing, dissecting stuff, drawing and painting, henna, pyrography, knitting (although I am not very good at it!) cooking and prowling for recipes online, Judaism, reading, rock climbing, and the outdoors. I hope to pursue a doctorate in Audiology (AuD) after undergrad. I have always loved cooking and trying new foods, and moving into my first apartment has been a wonderful opportunity to do so. However, it has also been quite a transition getting used to actually cooking for myself everyday, without making a huge ordeal. I do believe I am getting better at fixing a meal in a more efficient amount of time :)
 
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