Moghrabieh (Palestinian couscous) and Century

I biked a century ride yesterday! That is 100 Miles (160 KM), from Babylon to Montauk, NY!

That was amazing! Thank you, 5BBC! (5bbc.org).

To celebrate, and to say goodbye to my NY riding buddies, I'm having a dinner party this week. While writing the invite, I realized I never blogged about what I will cook, which is a shame, so I decided there is no time like the present! So here is how you make a wonderfully classic Palestinian dish (that is NOT Israeli!)

Ingredients 

2 lb chicken 

(I prefer drumsticks, but you can either use who chicken or mainly red meat, I think chicken breasts dry out when cooked in meals)

2 cups Moghrabieh

(in NY, you could buy at Arab stores, strangely enough, you could also buy on Amazon)

2 lb chickpeas

(either canned or if you are less lazy, http://mideastfood.about.com/od/tipsandtechniques/qt/dried_chickpeas.htm)

4-5 large onions, sliced

Mixed spices (http://leenaskitchens.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-mixed-spices.html)

1 stick cinnamon

Unground/whole spices (5 allspice and pepper, 2 cardamom, bay leaf)

Salt.

Preparation

1.       Brown the chicken.

2.       Add some mixed spices and the onions and let them cook for a bit.

3.       Add water, cinnamon stick and whole spices (my trick is to put them in a tea steeper so you don’t have to pick them out one by one).

o   The amount of water to use depends on whether you are using a pressure-cooker or not. For pressure cooker, cover the chicken and add about as much. For regular pot, probably double, but keep an eye and add water if needed.

4.       Bring to boil and let cook. If you are using a pressure cooker, once it comes to boil let cook for 15 min. Regular pot, cook for 45 min.

5.       Rinse and drain chickpeas.

6.       Once the chicken is ready, use some of the broth to cook the Moghrabieh: in a separate pot, add four cups of the broth to the grain and let cook on low heat. The time for cooking varies depending on the Moghrabieh you get, but you want it to cook until very tender.

7.       Add the chickpeas to the chicken and remaining broth and cook for about 10 minutes. If the broth is still liquid-y, cook some more.

You serve the Moghrabieh with the sauce and enjoy!