Chicken Egyptian Style
Chicken Egyptian Style – Poached (and then cooked in butter) chicken
Chicken Egyptian Style ensures the meat is always moist and flavoursome, and the skin is beautifully buttery and crisp. It can therefore be likened to the French classics Duck Confit and Chicken Confit.
The meat is so tasty
This process infuses the flavours of the herbs and spices of the stock into the meat whilst it’s being poached.
Flavourful crispy , golden skin
The chicken is then cooked in butter, rendering the skin wonderfully crispy, golden and even more flavoursome.
The added bonus of really good stock
When chicken is cooked this way you have the added bonus of the fabulous stock which is produced in the cooking process. All Egyptian cooks find this stock invaluable for the cooking of Ma’ashi (stuffed vegetables), Lissen Al Asfour(soup), Egyptian rice and many other dishes
The chicken can be poached whole or as portions. You’ll need 1 or 2 portions per person depending on the appetites of your dining companions.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken quarters
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 1 grated carrot
- 3 cloves of garlic – grated
- ½ tsp salt
- A good pinch pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 or 3 bay leaves
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- a pinch of chilli flakes
- 2 cloves
Here’s how to cook Chicken Egyptian Style
Get the chicken in the pan
Place the chicken in a large pan and cover with cold water.
Add all those wonderful spices
Add all the additional ingredients to the pan and give it a quick stir.
Put the pan to heat over a medium to high heat.
Simmer gently for an hour
When the water comes to the boil turn the heat down to a very gentle simmer and cook the chicken for about a further hour.
Take care not to over cook the chicken, you don’t want it to reach the point where it falls off the bone. Remember it still has further cooking.
Now to give your chicken some Egyptian style with a full golden glow
Take the chicken out of the stock. Save the stock to be used for other recipes later (it can be frozen if you choose).
* Before you use the stock remember to remove the bay leaves and cloves.
Drain your chicken thoroughly
Make sure to drain it thoroughly ( otherwise it will spit when liquid hits the hot fat).
Fry until golden brown
Fry gently in the butter, until the skin is crispy and golden brown.
I must admit that I do break with tradition here. Rather than frying the chicken, I prefer to lay it out on a baking tray and baste it well with the butter and then put it under a hot grill for about 10 minutes to brown up the skin and crisp it up. My reason for this is, the fact that regardless of how well I drain the chicken I always find that the fat spits too much, plus it’s quicker. Grilling works beautifully and achieves the same goal.
How to serve your Chicken Egyptian Style
This chicken is great served with rice and salad.
If you’re expecting guests and you feel a little more adventurous, I could suggest the following menu, which is a popular combination in Egypt for entertaining:-
- Chicken – Egyptian style
- Ma’ashi – stuffed cabbage,
- Ma’ashi – stuffed baby aubergine
- Ma’ashi – stuffed courgettes
- Lizzen Al asfor
- Salata baladi
I do hope you’ve found this recipe helpful. Let me know how you get on with it.
If you’d like to try out some of our other recipes just hit the link
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