Cardamom Chicken

I hope the author doesn’t find this recipe. I changed a bunch from the original. Partly because I don’t have many of the ingredients in their original form, and I wanted to make it work for us. There was a topping I just opted out of entirely because it involved raw onion which gives K headaches. If you are at all interested in Middle Eastern cuisine, I would recommend this cookbook. It had some really interesting and tasty-sounding recipes. And maybe you could make this the way it was intended! I was just looking for a weeknight meal, and this worked for me.

 

The above picture was how I plated K’s dish. For mine, I liked it smothered with the sauce.

 

You can serve it however you like. You could even serve the parts separated. But, you might want some of the vegetable sauce on the rice. It was really good! You’ll notice we used an Asian vegetable instead of spinach or Jew’s mallow leaves (the traditional vegetable for this). We used what we had and what we thought would taste good with the dish. Use your discretion.

Directions for Cardamom Chicken

Adapted from Pomegranates and Pine Nuts

• 1 pound chicken thighs, bone-in (skin removed)
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 onion, cut in half
• 2 shallots, finely chopped (or more onion if that’s all you have)
• 10 garlic cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 2 pounds Spinach leaves, Jew’s mallow leaves, or similar vegetable
• Cornstarch
• Salt and pepper
• Cooked rice (seasoned if you prefer)

Put the chicken, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, onion, 1 garlic clove, nutmeg, and 3.25 cups water in a large, heavy-bottomed pan (like a Dutch oven). Add some salt and pepper.

Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and pull out the chicken pieces. Transfer the chicken to an oven-safe pan, Shred the meat, discarding the bones.

Cover and keep it warm in the oven. Strain the broth and set it aside.

Heat some oil in the pan and add the chopped shallots. Cook for a few minutes until they soften.

Meanwhile, finely chop the remaining garlic cloves. Use a mortar and pestle or a food processor to make the garlic almost paste-like. Add this to the pan,

 

Add some broth if things stick too much.

then after 1 minute add the cilantro.

Pour in the reserved broth and the all-spice. Mix together some cornstarch with some water and add a bit at a time to the broth to thicken it. Allow the mixture to simmer. Add the vegetable and simmer it until cooked.

Serve the vegetable/broth mixture with the chicken over rice.

Directions for Cardamom Chicken (without pictures)

Adapted from Pomegranates and Pine Nuts

• 1 pound chicken thighs, bone-in (skin removed)
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 onion, cut in half
• 2 shallots, finely chopped (or more onion if that’s all you have)
• 10 garlic cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 2 pounds Spinach leaves, Jew’s mallow leaves, or similar vegetable
• Cornstarch
• Salt and pepper
• Cooked rice (seasoned if you prefer)

Put the chicken, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, onion, 1 garlic clove, nutmeg, and 3.25 cups water in a large, heavy-bottomed pan (like a Dutch oven). Add some salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and pull out the chicken pieces. Transfer the chicken to an oven-safe pan, Shred the meat, discarding the bones. Cover and keep it warm in the oven. Strain the broth and set it aside.

Heat some oil in the pan and add the chopped shallots. Cook for a few minutes until they soften. Meanwhile, finely chop the remaining garlic cloves. Use a mortar and pestle or a food processor to make the garlic almost paste-like. Add this to the pan, then after 1 minute add the cilantro. Pour in the reserved broth and the all-spice. Mix together some cornstarch with some water and add a bit at a time to the broth to thicken it. Allow the mixture to simmer. Add the vegetable and simmer it until cooked.

Serve the vegetable/broth mixture with the chicken over rice.