Persian Chicken Stuffed With Rice

Sephardi Kitchen's Note:

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.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 8

Yield: 2.0 Cornish ...

• 2 Cornish hens or 1 whole chicken
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 large onions , thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup long-grain rice
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon rose water (optional)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• ½ cup dried barberries, cleaned, soaked and drained or 1 cup fresh cranberries , chopped
• 4 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 3 tablespoons raisins
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon saffron (optional)
• ¼ cup apple juice
• lime slice (to garnish)

Directions:

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Place in the oven and roast for approximately 45 minutes, or until fully cooked and no longer pink. Baste occasionally.
7. Garnish with lime slices and enjoy!

Reviews

[UmmBinat]

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 Mast-O Khiar (Persian Yogurt and Cucumber Dip). Made for APRIL 2011 NA/ME TAG!

[Chef h&h]

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.

[Belgophile]

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.