Chicken with Freekeh

Description

Freekeh is an ancient grain that we Lebanese people, among other Levantines love to use. It is green durum wheat that is roasted to give a distinct flavor. I tell the kids it’s green rice and somehow they let it slide. Here we will use whole freekeh (as opposed to cracked type) and cook it with the chicken to produce absolute fragrant awesomeness.

Chicken with Freekeh

Servings 6

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

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Ingredients

  

For the chicken:

• 1 whole chicken – preferably organic *
• 1 onion – quartered
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6-7 black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3 star anise ***
• 2-3 cardamom pods
• 3 cm ginger stalk (I used dried, but you can use fresh)
• 3-4 whole cloves
• 6-7 pieces mastic

For the pilaf:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions – chopped finely
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger – grated
• 4 garlic cloves – mashed
• 2-7 tbsp spices blend
• 0.5 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp allspice
• 0.5 tbsp white pepper
• 0.75 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp rose water
• 1 All the chicken meat - shredded
• 400 ml freekeh – cleaned and washed ****
• 800 ml chicken stock **
• 1 cup mixed nuts – I used almonds, cashews, pine nuts, pecans, and hazelnuts
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying nuts
• 1 Juice of half a lemon

Instructions

 

• Take the chicken and place it in the pressure cooker, add hot water to it, enough to cover the chicken and begin cooking on high without the lid. When the water boils, throw it out. Then using new water (2-3 liters), fill up the pressure cooker and add the onion and all the spices. When the pressure cooker begins to whistle, continue cooking for 30 minutes on low fire.
• When the pressure cooker is ready to open, open it and drain the broth through a sieve. When the chicken cools, clean the meat from the bones and set aside.
• In the non-stick pot, fry the chopped onion until it cooks well and becomes golden. Add the garlic and ginger and continue cooking for 1 minute.
• Season with allspice, cinnamon, 7 spices, white pepper, and salt. Then add the rose water and cook for another minute.
• Add the cleaned and washed freekeh and cook for another minute. Then add the broth and the shredded chicken. Mix well. When the broth begins to bubble, simmer and cover for 25 minutes.
• On the side, fry the nuts in vegetable oil, all except the pine nuts, if you’re using. At the last second, add the pine nuts and remove all when golden.
• When the pilaf is ready squeeze the juice of half a lemon, top with the nuts, and serve.

Notes

*If you can use organic chicken please do, as you will eat the meat and have stock. So it’s like you’re using it more than once and reaping a lot of benefits, which makes it worth the splurge.

** You will have extra stock! And that my darlings, is a wonderful thing, you can use it in other dishes or soups. If you’re out of ideas for now, just freeze it and use it later.

*** It does sound like I’m using a lot of spices, but they are what makes this hearty dish so wonderful. If you are to skip some, do not skip the cinnamon stick, peppercorns, and bay leaf as they are the most important ones.

**** Freekeh needs to be cleaned very well by hand before rinsing. It may contain debris or small rocks that need to be picked by hand! Sorry! – But it’s totally worth it I promise.