Chicken Qidra in a Clay Pot

Ingredients

Chicken

• 500 g chicken, preferably on the bone (soaked in vinegar, garlic, olive oil and lemon)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Whole spices: 4 cardamom pods, 4 cloves, 2 bay leaves, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 7 black peppercorns
• 2 garlic cloves and 1/2 onion

Rice

• 4 medium onions, sliced
• 2 heads of garlic
• 1 tbsp qidra spice (or cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, allspice, turmeric, coriander and cumin)
• 1 cup or more soaked chickpeas
• 1 1/2 cups Egyptian rice and 1/2 cup basmati, soaked in warm water at least half an hour
• 2 tbsp ghee with 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 1 more tbsp qidra spice
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 cups chickpea cooking water, if available

Method

1. After soaking and cleaning the chicken, heat a pot with the oil and brown the chicken pieces with the whole spices on all sides without moving them.
2. Oil the clay pot and add the browned chicken with the whole spices. In the same pot, heat the ghee and oil, soften the onions and garlic with the ground spices briefly, add the chickpeas then the rice, stir, and add to the clay pot. Add the stock cube, 1/2 tsp turmeric and the chickpea water, cover with water and seal with foil.
3. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the rice. Serve hot with cucumber yogurt salad.