Red Chicken Stew

The veggies and spices for this dish.
1 large onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, smashed
3 large sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup raisins (I'm using craisins because I ran out of raisins)
1 dry lime/lemon, pierced, or 1 tsp. ground dry lime/lemon; you could also use 3 bay leaves if you can't find the dry limes/lemons, lemon grass would work too, whichever you choose, remember to take it out before serving the stew.
1 Tablespoon Curry powder
salt to taste.

1 whole chicken, thawed in cold water.

Cut into eight pieces.

Cover the chicken in water. Boil for about ten minutes. Drain the chicken, carefully, because the water is boiling hot. Wash the pot with soap and water, to get rid of the nasty gray scum on the insides of the pot. It would not be appetizing to have that scum floating in your stew.

Lay the partially cooked chicken on a plate until you've washed the pot.

Put a little oil, about 1/4 cup, in the bottom of the clean pot. Brown the partially cooked chicken with the diced onion. Throw in the smashed garlic cloves when the chicken is browned to your liking, just to release the aroma of the garlic. Then just cover the chicken with water.

Add about 2 cups of V-8 juice, 1 Tablespoon of curry powder and salt to taste.

Add your 1/2 cup of raisins, your chunks of peeled sweet potatoes and your pierced dry lime. Cover your pot and simmer it over medium heat until the sweet potatoes are soft. At least a half hour or a little longer.

Smash the sweet potatoes into the broth with the back of your spoon and simmer about 10 minutes longer. To serve, ladel the stew over the rice in the previous recipe.

*This meal is a fairly typical combination of sweet and savory flavors found in standard Iraqi cuisine.

Basic Iraqi Biryani

Excuse the pics, I used my phone camera for these.


This is the rice and the spice for the most basic version of Iraqi Biryani.

2 cups uncooked basmati rice. Rinse it well, with warm water, to get rid of the excess starch/dust, and drain it.

A strainer such as this one is useful for draining the water out of the rice.



1/2 cup short vermicelli (orzo works great too).

1/3 cup olive oil

Pour about 1/3 cup olive oil or cooking oil in the bottom of the pot, toast the pasta until golden brown and a nutty aroma escapes it. Immediately pour in the rice and stir it together really well to prevent the pasta from getting too dark.

2 Tablespoons of Arabic seven spice (If you can't find Arabic seven spice, use 1 tsp. each of ground cinnamon, cardamom, black or white pepper, nutmeg, coriandar, and dry mustard)

salt to taste

4 cups water (for softer rice, use up to 6 cups water)

Add the spices and the water to the rice and stir everything together very well.

Heat everything just to a strong boil.


Now cover it and reduce the heat to the lowest level. Leave the rice covered and on a warm burner for at least 25 minutes, then turn it off, remove the lid and fluff it with a fork. Serve with soup that has a lot of broth, and spoon it over the rice to serve it.

*Accompanying Red Chicken Stew recipe coming soon.

Fasouliah

1 can tomato paste
2 cans cannellini beans
2 pounds bone-in lamb pieces
1/2 bulb of garlic, peeled
1 dry black lemon, pierced
salt to taste
turmeric to taste

Boil the lamb pieces for about 10 minutes, throw away the water and wash the pot. Put the meat back in the pot and cover it with boiling water, continue cooking until the meat is very soft.

Now remove the meat from the water and set it aside. Brown the meat on each side, in a little oil. Toss in your garlic cloves and keep frying until you smell the garlic.

Add the tomato paste, cook until it smells a little sronger, stir it a little to prevent it from burning. Add your salt and turmeric.

Pour in your cannellini beans and heat through.

Now, add the water that you saved from cooking the meat. Throw in your pierced black lemon too. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir it now and then to keep it from sticking to the pot.

Serve it ladeled on top of a bed of aromatic basmati rice.

Basmati Rice with Kishmish

1) 2 1/2 cups of Basmati rice
2) 8 cups water

In a large pot, place the rice and the water. Bring to a boil, and boil rapidly for about 4 to five minutes. In a collander, drain off all the water. Do not over cook.




3) 1/4 cup raisins (kishmish)

4) 4 shallots, chopped

5) 1 Tablespoon cumin seeds

6) 1/4 cup olive oil



Put the raisins in a small dish and just barely cover them with water. In a hot, dry pot, pour the olive oil. Brown the chopped shallots a few minutes, until a little brown. Add the cumin seeds and brown until you smell the nutty smell of the cumin, then drain the raisins and throw them in as well. Let it cook until you smell the raisins getting hot.

Then add the cooked rice and turn it over gently, a few times, until the raisins and shallots are mixed in nicely. Cover it until ready to serve.

Serve the rice with the Lamb and Okra Love from Basra (Bumya), recipe below, and fresh mint. The stew makes a gorgeous topping for the rice.

Lamb and Okra Love from Basra (Bumya)

1) 2 to 3 lbs of bone-in lamb stew pieces

Boil the lamb pieces for about 10 minutes, remove them from the water and discard it. Wash the disgusting gray film out of the pot, and return the lamb back into the pot, and cover it again, with fresh, hot water. Bring it back to a boil, then reduce to a strong simmer or low boil for about an hour, or until it's very tender. Drain, save the water and set aside.

2) 1 quart box fresh okra, ends removed or 1 package frozen okra

Boil the okra for 30 minutes, drain, and set aside.

3) 1/4 cup of cooking oil
4) 1 clove garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

Brown the cooked lamb in the oil. Throw in the chopped garlic and brown everything until you smell the garlic, being careful not to burn it.


5) 1/2 can tomato paste
6) 1 Tablespoon ground turmeric

Add tomato paste and turmeric and give it a gentle stir. As soon as the tomato paste starts to get a little darker, and smells just slightly stronger, add some of the lamb broth that you saved. Maybe 2 or 3 cups.

7) 1 Tablespoon sea salt

Now, add the salt and pour the okra into the pot and turn everything over gently, a couple of times, with a wooden spoon.

Then add lamb broth until just level with the top of the other ingredients.

Bring the stew to a boil and cook, uncovered, about 30 minutes, or until the sauce thickens and the okra is quite broken down. Stir it occasionally to prevent burning.

YUMMY! That's what I call "love from Basra."

It must be served with Basmati rice, see the recipe above, and fresh mint.
It could also be served with soft, fresh pita bread, torn into pieces and dipped into the thick stew.

Wash it down with hot, sweet black tea. The black tea makes you feel that your meal is now complete.