Syrian chicken with bulgur wheat (burghul bl jaj)
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- Easy
- Serves 2
Skip to ingredients
- 4 whole chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp rock salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 3 cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- crushed to make ½ tsp black peppercorns
- 3 cloves
- 1 onionroughly chopped
- 200g chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 200g bulgur wheat
- a small handful flat-leaf parsleyto serve
- to serve (optional) pomegranate seeds
- a pinch sumacto serve (optional)
- boiled butternut squashto serve (optional)
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal713
- fat21.7g
- saturates4.1g
- carbs82.7g
- sugars18.5g
- fibre16g
- protein38.8g
- salt3.9g
Method
step 1
Toss the chicken thighs with the vinegar and rock salt in a bowl, then remove and pat dry with kitchen paper
step 2
Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the cumin seeds. Once sizzling, add the cardamom, cinnamon, peppercorns and cloves. Stir for 1 minute. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until golden.
step 3
Add the tomatoes, mixed spice and 1 tsp of salt. Cover and simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring regularly.
step 4
Add the chicken and cook for 35 minutes more, until the chicken is cooked through, stirring every once in a while.
step 5
Scoop the chicken thighs onto a non-stick tray. Add the raisins and bulgur wheat to the pan. The mixture should just cover the bulgur – if it doesn’t, add enough just-boiled water to do so. Bubble on a low heat for 15-20 minutes until the bulgur is tender.
step 6
Meanwhile, grill the chicken under a medium heat for 10 minutes until the skin is golden.
step 7
To serve, spoon the bulgur wheat onto a serving plate, top with the chicken, parsley, pomegranate seeds and sumac, if you like.
