Name: Iranian Stuffed Chicken with Fresh Green Herbs and Golden Soup
Yield: Yield: 4 to 8 Servings, Depending on the Size of the Chicken and Other Dishes Served
Cuisine: Iran
Ingredients: 1 large roasting chicken,; 1 cup basmati rice, rinsed well; ½ teaspoon turmeric; 1½ tablespoons cumin seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle or coarsely ground in a spice mill (for extra flavor, lightly toast the seeds until fragrant before crushing); ½ cup yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed well; An assortment of fresh herbs, including at least three of these: basil, mint, tarragon, cilantro, scallions; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; Herb blossoms or other edible flowers (optional); 1 to 1½ teaspoons turmeric; freshly ground black pepper; 2 medium celery stalks, preferably with leaves; 1 cup dried chickpeas, picked over, rinsed, and soaked overnight (optional); Small red radishes; Salt; Enough fresh, cold water to cover the bird (if you us bottled water for coffee or tea, use it here); 4 to 7 pounds (neck, liver, and giblets removed and reserved for another use); 1½ cups finely chopped onion; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1 large onion, peeled and cut in half

Preparation info

Yield:
4 to 8
Servings, Depending on the Size of the Chicken and Other Dishes Served

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Jewish Holiday Cooking

By Jayne Cohen

Published 2008

About

You pick up strips of silky, moist poached chicken, glistening with amber broth, and wrap them in an array of fresh green herbs—mint, scallion slivers, basil, tarragon, cilantro—then pop the scented packet in your mouth. Between bites there is the stuffing—cumin-scented rice and dal-like split peas, tinted sunshine yellow with turmeric—that has been cooked to melt-in-the-mouth tenderness inside the gently simmered chicken.

Only much later do you realize that this sensory feast—unlik