Harissa or chicken porridge

Harrisa

This meal is usually considered a very nourishing one, which  makes you feel warm,  homey and cozy on Saturday morning and is believed to be perfect as winter meal for family and friends gatherings. However, add a bit of romance to the dish and it can unexpectedly become something quite special, take you to a lovely table served for two on a glazed terrace maybe next to fireplace, with a view of an apricot sunset over a turquoise lake.

…followed by a  teapot  of  thyme tea served with apricot jam(muraba)

Ingredients (to serve 6 person)

… or 2 hungry person for 2 days

1 Chicken  1.5 kg

2 cups of whole wheat

Water to cover the chicken in a large pot

Butter 250gr / Drawn butter

Cumin

Paprika

Black Pepper

(1 onion 1 carrot and a half bunch of parsley for the chicken stock)

Lemon(half)

Place the chicken in a large pot cover with water, add a carrot, an onion(cut into 2 halves) parsley and  squeeze half lemon, boil and cook on medium heat until the meat start to separate from the bones (1 hour 30 minutes or 2 hours).

Take out the vegetables and the chicken, remove the skin and the bones of the chicken,shred the chicken and put it back into the broth.

Wash and leave the wheat in water for an hour or two before cooking, (you can do this before you start cooking the chicken)

 place in a large pot and cook until grains are soft 

add into the broth with chicken. 

Stir and whip up with a wooden spoon constantly

a) to prevent the wheat sticking to the bottom of the pot b) to make the consistency fluffier

Add 100 gr. butter and stir again.

Cook on low heat until the broth is absorbed. Your harissa is ready

Serve with black pepper, paprika,  cumin and melted butter served separately in a bowl.  As a side dish you can offer radish, pickled cucumbers, lemon and barbecued (grilled chili pepper)

wrapped over sliced swede. (you can improvise and make a salad from these ingredients, they will nicely complete the dish).

  

Drawn butter
Melt the rest of the butter in a saucepan, on medium heat so the butter won’t burn, bring to boil and leave for few minutes taking off the foam from the surface.

 Pour the melted butter  (this should be of  a bright yellow colour and transparent) into a small bowl, serve with the big bowl of harrissa.

P.S. The second part of the dish (stirring) can be combined with 3 or 4 Winnie-the-Poohs chapters and a detailed research of the map to find where the rabbit’s friends and relations live …

Hmm....Rabbit…RabbitJ))) RABBIT!!! It is nice to start planning for the next post in a timely manner.