Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Dajaj fe ga3ateh - Chicken at the bottom

Another easy traditional Bahraini recipe. You can substitute the chicken for meat or even fish (use the meaty kind.. I've never made it with fish though so I wouldn't know how to adjust the recipe)

  • 1 pound chicken pieces (breast, legs, wings, whatever you want)
  • 2 large onion sliced into thin strips
  • 1 1/2 cups of basmati rice (soak rice in water until ready to use)
  • Ibzaar - Khaliji spice mix (see my maragat bamia post)
  • Cinnamon stick and 3-4 party open caramoms
  1. Half cook rice using straining method - basically you just fill the pot with water and salt, add rice (rice has to be MUCH less than water) and cook until rice starts floating (thats when you know its half cooked but taste rice to make sure). When your done strain rice.
  2. In the meantime, heat oil in a saucepan/pot. Rub chicken pieces with spices and add to pot (note: if pieces are large then cut slits in chicken and rub spices inside and under skin if the skin is on).
  3. Add onions.
  4. Fry until onions are soft
  5. Add rice and add a little water over rice
  6. Cover and reduce heat to medium - cook for around 45 minutes. Note: put a paper towel between cover and pot so that it absorbs the extra water

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Rasha,

This is a quick and easy dish, and good for dieting. My version of grilled chicken breast: Chicken breast fillets pieces, marinade in lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, greek yougart, salt and black pepper. You can substitue lemon zest for parsely if you want. Grill in oven for around 20 min. Half way through cooking, drain out the water that comes from the marinade, leaving a little to stay moist and leave to cook for another 5-10 min. Serve with rice or bread and salad.

Enjoy.

Amal