Egyptian Chicken

This contains ingredients typical of the region which is influenced by Mediterranean and Asian cuisine. Consequently in Egypt it is quite common for vermicelli pasta to be fried and added to rice and the combination of the spices and nuts is a reflection of the cultural influences of the area. The toasted vermicelli and currants provide a delicious and 'different' flavour to this dish.

Ingredients

For 1	Continued...
1 tbspn olive oil (1)	5 level tbspn (75 ml) long grained rice
1 chicken breast	pinch of salt
75 gm onion (prepared weight)	1 chicken stock cube
¼ tspn allspice	1 tbspn oil (2)
¼ tspn paprika	1 tbspn butter
¼ tspn ground coriander	50 gm (1 or 2 nests) vermicelli
½ tspn ground cumin	50 gm currants
freshly ground black pepper to taste	20 gm (1 tbspn) blanched almonds

Preparation

Cut the chicken into approx 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces.
Chop the onion.
Chop the almonds.

Cooking

Over a low flame heat the oil (1) in a wok or heavy pan and add the chicken, onion, allspice, paprika, coriander, cumin and pepper to taste and cook, stirring regularly, for about 5 min.
Add the rice, 200 ml of water, salt, crush in the stock cube and simmer for about 15 min or until the rice and chicken is cooked, adding more water as needed to prevent drying and to maintain the desired consistency, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice sticking to the pan.
In the meantime melt the butter in a pan, add the oil (2) and fry the vermicelli until it is golden brown. It may need to be broken up if it doesn't naturally separate.
When the rice has cooked, add the vermicelli, currants and chopped almonds to the rice, stir, and heat through.

Notes

Vermicelli is thin pasta usually sold dried and coiled into small nests in order to prevent it breaking up. It is thicker than Capellini which, if necessary, could be used instead as could any thin pasta. This has been adapted from a recipe at egyptianfood.org.

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