Ottolenghi's Chargrilled Chicken with Mograbiah

Here's something: Mograbiah is also known as pearl couscous, Israeli couscous, berkukis (in North Africa) and fregola (in Sardinia). It is made from durum wheat and is more like a pasta. Talk about versatile.

This is another dish of amazing freshness and complementary flavours from Ottolenghi The Cookbook.  The trivia about mograbiah is from the book, too.  Talk about versatile (and useful)!

The Ottolenghi recipe of this dish uses quail instead of chicken, but the book handily warns about the 'fiddly and unrewarding' nature of deboning spatchcock, and suggests that chicken thigh or leg meat can be substituted - I told you it was useful.

Here is my take on the recipe.

Spiced Chargrilled Chicken with Mograbiah

serves 2

Ingredients

4 chicken thigh fillets

Marinade

1/2 tblsp ground cinnamon

1 tblsp ground cumin

6 whole cardamom pods

1/2 tblsp paprika

pinch of salt

2 cloves garlic, crushed

15g fresh ginger, crushed

1 tblsp honey

90ml olive oil

Salad

1/2 cup mograbiah

5g unsalted butter

1/2 tblsp olive oil

1/2 mild red chilli

1 spring onion

2 tblsp lemon juice

1 tblsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 tblsp mint, chopped

salt and pepper

Method
1.  For the marinade: put all the spices and a pinch of salt in a small food processor bowl (or mortar and pestle) and blend until a fine powder.  Add the garlic and ginger and work into a paste.  Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and whisk in the honey and oil until it becomes light and uniform in texture.  Add the chicken and massage well with the marinade.  Cover and chill for at least 4  hours, preferably overnight.

2.  The next day, prepare the mograbiah: bring a cup of water to the boil with a pinch of salt.  Add the mograbiah and simmer for 10-15 minutes until tender (or 'al dente').  Add the butter and oil, stire well and season with plenty of salt and pepper.  Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, remove the seeds from the chilli and chop it finely.  Finely slice the spring onion and add with the chilli and lemon juice to the cooling mograbiah.

3.  To cook the chicken: place a chargrill pan over medium heat and leave until hot.  Lay the chicken in the pan, spaced well apart, and grill for 10-15 minutes, turning once or twice. Make sure the heat is not too high, or the chicken will darken before they cook.

4.  When the chicken is almost ready, stir the herbs into the mograbiah.  Add more salt, pepper or olive oil to taste.

5.  Pile the salad onto a serving dish, top with the chicken and serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Ottolenghi The Cookbook

The marinade ingredients. Next time, I would use ground cardamom, as processing the pods does not ground them finely enough

The marinade turns into a paste that is then massaged into the chicken. This is where a pair of disposable kitchen gloves comes in handy!

Preparing the mograbiah (aka pearl couscous). the herbs, chilli and lemon juice add a wonderful freshness to the dish.

Serve the chicken with the mograbiah

Still can't get enough of Ottolenghi's simple genius