Levantine cuisine · Meat & Kebab

Djaj Mahshi

Whole chicken stuffed with rice, ground meat, and almonds, roasted crisp with butter.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 1 chicken (approx. 1.4 kg)
• 250 g long-grain rice
• 200 g ground lamb
• 1 onion
• 100 g almonds
• 40 g pine nuts
• 2 tsp baharat (seven-spice blend)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 60 g butter
• 600 ml chicken broth
• 1 lemon
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Soak the rice in warm water for 30 min and drain; pat the chicken dry inside and out, rub with the lemon juice, season with 1 tsp baharat, salt, and pepper, and let rest.
2. Finely dice the onion and sauté in 20 g butter for 6 min until translucent, add the ground lamb and fry crumbly for 6 min, seasoning with the remaining baharat and cinnamon.
3. Coarsely chop the almonds, toast with the pine nuts in 20 g butter for 3 min until golden brown, and mix with the drained rice into the meat mixture; pour in 250 ml broth and let steam covered for 10 min, until the rice is half-cooked.
4. Put about two-thirds of the stuffing into the cavity, close the opening with toothpicks, and tie the legs together with kitchen twine; distribute the remaining stuffing around the chicken in the roasting pan.
5. Pour in the remaining broth, brush the chicken with the remaining melted butter, and roast covered at 180°C top/bottom heat for 70 min.
6. Remove the cover and brown for another 20–25 min at 210°C, until the skin is golden and crisp and the juices from the leg run clear; let rest for 10 min and carve over the stuffing.