Chicken murag with rice

Having caused a bit of a rumpus with the simplest of all meals (scrambled egg) I feel like I am taking my life in my hands with this post. This dish sends my brother and I into raptures of nostalgia. Cooked by our grandmother it fills the house with smells of chicken and spices, it is essentially chicken soup with rice. I have found other versions of this in Claudia Roden’s Middle Eastern food book but none are quite the same as our version. My grandmother, Rachel grew up in Calcutta, her family were part of a small community of Jews who over the preceding 100 years had come to Calcutta from Baghdad and Syria. This recipe has clearly been influenced by this Indian and Middle Eastern background. My grandmother did not use stock for this soup just water. The chicken bones cook in the soup and its own stock is created. But when I have a good fine clear chicken and onion stock i thinkit adds to the flavour.

Its best on a cold night when you are feeling low or after a long walk when all you want is comfort food. I have given you the amount I tend to use for four people but I often double it since it tastes better the next day. I recall my grandmother used to top up the murag the next day with more potatoes and chicken added to the left over broth.

• 6 Chicken thighs on the bone and skin on
• Potatoes (you don’t want them too floury, they need to stay firm when boiled)
• Chicken and onion stock if you have homemade.
• 1 onion finely sliced
• 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons of corriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons of Ground turmeric
• 8 -10 Cardamom Pods
• 3 Garlic cloves
• Basmati Rice

For the murag Crush the Spices, (except the cardamom) finely slice the garlic and onion and add them to a pan with a splash of sunflower oil. As it starts to bubble add the chicken pieces and brown them off in the spice mix. After a few minutes add the chicken and onion stock and enough water to cover the chicken well (you want lots of broth). Add the cardamom when you add the liquid.

I make a chicken stock by boiling up chicken bones and a couple of peeled and halved onions. If you don’t have any stock, just use water. The last thing you want is to use a stock cube which ruins the flavour.

Let the chicken, spices and chicken simmer for about 20 minutes or longer you want to the chicken to just fall off the bone then add about seven peeled and halved potatoes. (keep the potatoes quite large.) and simmer for another half and hour or so. The skin on the chicken will have started to come away, remove these from the pot and skim any fat from the top of the murag. Season to taste.

For the rice I was also taught to make rice by my grandmother. She did this always using the same pan. She did not measure out her rice, she put it in the bottom of the pan so it covered the bottom. She then added water so that if she put her elbow in the pan it would come up to the same height on her arm. Not hugely helpful if you have a smaller pan, different sizes arms etc! I subsequently found that the best way to guarantee fluffy rice every time is use the same amount of rice to water.

One good sized mug will make enough rice for two people. Rinse the rice well add it to the pan with some salt. Add the water, put the lid on the pan, bring it to the boil and as soon as it starts boiling (do not take the lid off) turn it down to low simmer. Let it cook for exactly ten minutes. Turn the heat off but do not take the lid off, leave it for a further ten minutes. Then remove the lid and hey presto perfect rice. This basic rice can used to make spicy rice but more of that in future posts.

How to eat chicken murag Take a large bowl, add a good spoonful of rice, then add plenty of soup with at least one bit of chicken and one potato per person. I challenge anyone to only have one serving.