Whole spiced chicken pieces roasted over rice cooked in their dripping broth, with a fresh green coriander and chilli relish on the side.
Prep
30 mins
Cook
1h 15m
Servings
6
Per serving
£1.83
Difficulty
medium
The technique borrows from mandi: the chicken cooks above the rice so its fat and juices fall through and season everything below. The hawaij spice blend, heavy on cumin, coriander and cardamom, is easy to grind yourself and much better fresh. The zhoug relish on the side is what lifts it.
Toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom pods and peppercorns in a dry pan for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant. Cool, then grind to a powder and stir in the turmeric. This is your hawaij.
Rub the chicken thighs with half the spice blend, 3 crushed garlic cloves, 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil, the juice of one lemon and 1.5 tsp of the salt. Leave 30 minutes.
Heat the remaining 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a wide ovenproof casserole and cook the sliced onions for 12 minutes until golden.
Stir in the chopped tomatoes and the rest of the spice blend and cook 5 minutes until thick.
Add the drained rice, turn it in the onions for 2 minutes, then pour in 750ml hot water and 2 tsp of the salt. Bring to the boil.
Heat the oven to 190C fan. Sit a wire rack directly over the casserole, or lay the chicken on top of the rice if you have no rack, skin side up.
Cooking the chicken above the rice rather than in it lets the fat drip down while the skin still crisps. It is the whole idea of the dish.
Cover the whole thing tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
Remove the foil, take out the rack briefly, and grill the chicken on a separate tray for 6 to 8 minutes until the skin blisters. Leave the rice covered off the heat while you do this.
For the relish, blitz the coriander, green chillies, remaining garlic, olive oil, remaining lemon juice and the last of the salt to a coarse green paste.
Fork through the rice, pile the chicken on top and serve with the relish spooned over.