Recipes

In the thirteenth-century Arabic cookbook Kitāb al-wusla ilā al-habīb there are three recipes for a dish called ma'mūniyya that has some resemblance to Circassian chicken. This is a dish made by Circassians, a people from northwest Caucasia who have communities in a couple of Russian republics and other communities in Turkey, Jordan, and Syria. They converted wholesale to Islam in the seventeenth century. This dish is also claimed by the Armenians. It is a rich and quite elegant preparation. There is a large Circassian community in Amman, Jordan where I first ate it and learned how to make it. The walnuts (Juglans regia) so prominent in this dish are native to southeastern Europe and China. One finds walnuts used in much Caucasian, Armenian, Kurdish, north Syrian, southeastern Turkish, and Persian cuisine.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 6 servings
Preparation Time: 1:45 hours

1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds)

For the broth

1 medium onion, cut up

1 leek, white and green parts, split lengthwise, washed well and chopped

1 large carrot, sliced into rounds

6 whole cloves

6 allspice berries

10 black peppercorns

5 bay leaves

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

For the walnut sauce

6 ounces walnuts, chopped

6 large garlic cloves, crushed in a mortar

1/4 pound white part of French or Italian bread

1/2 cup whole milk

1 small bunch coriander (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon walnut oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the garnish

1 tablespoon walnut oil

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup chopped walnut meats

About 20 fresh coriander leaves

1. Put the chicken in a large stockpot with the broth ingredients and enough water to almost cover the chicken. Bring the water to a very gentle bubble over high heat, reduce the heat before the broth reaches a boil so the water is only shimmering, cover partially, and poach until the chicken legs and wings look like they could fall off, about 1 hour. It is important that the broth never come to a hard boil, otherwise the chicken meat will become tough. Remove the chicken from the pot and pull off all the meat from the chicken, discarding all the skin, fat, and bones. Shred the meat into thin strips by pulling it apart with a fork. Meanwhile, increase the heat to high under the broth and reduce for 20 minutes. Check the seasoning of the broth and strain.

2. In a food processor or blender, grind the walnuts and garlic together into a paste. Soak the bread in the milk, then squeeze the liquid out in your hands as if you were making a snowball. Add the bread to the food processor and run until homogenous, scraping down the sides when necessary. Transfer the walnut mixture to a large bowl with the coriander leaf and dilute it with spoonfuls of broth until it has a mayonnaise consistency, using about 1 1/2 cups of broth in all. Add the chicken, mix well, add the cilantro, and bind together with a few more tablespoons of the broth and as many teaspoons of walnut oil as necessary until the entire mixture has a creamy consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

3. For the garnish, combine 1 tablespoon walnut oil with the paprika and cayenne and stir. Transfer the chicken to an oval serving platter and decorate the top with the chopped walnuts and the perimeter of the platter with coriander leaves; drizzle the top with the walnut oil mixture. Serve at room temperature with warm French bread or Arab flatbread.

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