Name: Chicken Legs Simmered in Vinegar (Dijaaj bil-Khal)
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Cuisine: Iraqi
Ingredients: 1 cup (250 ml) broth or water; ¼ cup (½ oz/15 g) chopped parsley or coarsely ground pistachios; ½ teaspoon each cardamom and allspice; 1 teaspoon honey or sugar; ½ cup (3 oz/85 g) each of diced carrots, peas (frozen or canned), and sliced mushrooms; ½ teaspoon turmeric; 2 tablespoons oil; ½ teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 bay leaves; 1 teaspoon each salt, coriander, and thyme; 4 chicken legs, trimmed, or 12 chicken drumsticks, with skin on; 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped; ⅓ cup (80 ml) vinegar, preferably wine vinegar; 2 medium potatoes, cubed; ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Preparation info

Makes
4
servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Delights from the Garden of Eden

By Nawal Nasrallah

Published 2019

About

Simmering meat in vinegar has been a favorite method for cooking meat ever since ancient times. The Babylonian recipes are our best testimony. The tartness of the vinegar is usually balanced with a little bit of honey or sugar. During the Abbasid era, such a dish was called masousiyya. It was mainly a sour stew using birds, but we do have recipes with shrimp and even red meat. The souring agent was vinegar (usually from wine), juice of unripe grapes, sumac juice, or juice of sour pom