Claypot chicken with dates, sujuk and burgul

By: Greg Malouf, Lucy Malouf
From: New Middle Eastern Food
Serves: 2
Photographer: Mark Roper

Güveç are a style of Turkish dish which take their name from the earthenware pot in which they are cooked — in the same way that the tagine does in morocco. In rural Anatolia the cooking pots may be sealed and buried in the ashes of a fire to cook slowly overnight — or, only slightly less romantically, in the local baker’s oven. A claypot holds enough for two people, but you can easily double the quantities. If you don’t have a claypot, or are increasing the recipe, a heavy-based cast-iron casserole dish will serve almost as well.

This güveç is spicy with a lingering sweetness, and a hint of non-traditional aniseed flavour. Serve it with a light salad or braised wild greens. A dollop of yoghurt on the side would also be delicious.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
45g	unsalted butter
1 tablespoon	extra-virgin olive oil
2	purple onions, cut into thick rings
1	garlic clove, sliced
2	red banana peppers, seeded and cut into rings
2	green banana peppers, seeded and cut into rings
2	long green chillies, seeded and diced
1 heaped teaspoon	ground cumin
1 level teaspoon	ground cinnamon
generous splash	dry sherry
2	large vine-ripened tomatoes, skinned, seeded and diced
50g	burghul, washed
350ml	good-quality chicken stock
1 stick	cinnamon
2	star anise
few sprigs	thyme
2 x 400g	poussins
	sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon	olive oil
50g	sujuk, sliced
4	medjool dates, seeded and cut into quarters

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Heat the butter and extra-virgin olive oil in a heavy-based casserole dish. Gently sweat the onions, garlic, peppers and chillies with the cumin and cinnamon for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables soften. Add the sherry, tomatoes, burgul, chicken stock, cinnamon, star anise and thyme and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, then cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the poussins into quarters and season lightly with salt and pepper.
In another heavy-based frying pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat and brown the poussins lightly all over. Add the sujuk and fry until golden brown on both sides. Transfer the poussins and sujuk to the casserole dish and tuck in the dates. Cover the pan and cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve straight away.

Tags:: Malouf; Greg; Lucy; Middle; Eastern

Claypot chicken with dates, sujuk and burgul

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