Moroccan food is delicious — think about all the variations of vegetarian and meat tagines. Mmm… — but my favorite meal on a recent trip there was Lebanese – a chicken and rice dish called Fatet Djaj. It is a dish I have loved since I lived in Washington, DC years ago from a restaurant called Lebanese Taverna, and I have made variations ever since.
The Marrakech version of Fatet Djaj was so good that we went back to the restaurant twice. I needed to deconstruct it to better understand and perfect my recipe, which is now ready to share with you. Once you’ve made it my way, try your own variations.
This recipe has a number of parts, but don’t be intimidated. It’s largely a “cook rice and chicken separately, make a yogurt sauce, and then assemble” recipe. But altogether it’s magic.
Arliano Update (Aggiornamento Arliano):
Our permit for the back house renovation is in hand and we’re gathering final estimates. Is it an Italian thing, or universal that contractors will come to take measurements, review the requirements for the job, but then take literal months (or never) to provide an actual estimate? That’s where we are right now – a sort of renovation limbo-land.
I’ve decided to do a smaller garden this year, focusing only on things that I know work well. We still have another couple of months to decide before we prepare the land and re-lay the irrigation lines. Tomatoes, you have been warned – you get one last try before I give up!
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Fatet Djaj (A Lebanese Chicken and Rice Dish)
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup basmati rice, well rinsed
- 1 + 1/3 cup plain Greek or regular yogurt, brought to room temperature (if using Greek style yogurt, add a tablespoon of water to thin it a bit)
- 1 tablespoon tahini paste
- Arils (seeds) from 1 large pomegranate
- 1/2 cup peeled (blanched) almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 pieces pita or other very flat bread (or if you can find it, very thin crispy bread, pita or other)
- 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 + 1/4 teaspoons kosher or sea salt, divided
- 2 tablespoons parsley, finely minced
- Olive oil, as needed
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C) with the rack in the middle of the oven
- Set the chicken breast on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt along with the paprika. Roast for approximately 25 minutes or until a thermometer reaches 160F (72C) on the thickest part of the breast. Eight minutes before the breasts are done roasting, place the almonds in the oven to toast. Remove the breasts and almonds and set them aside. Cover the breasts with aluminum foil
- While the chicken is roasting, cook the basmati rice according to the package instructions, but with the addition of the cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of kosher or sea salt. When done cooking, set it aside with the lid still on
- While the rice and chicken are baking, prepare the pomegranate seeds, chop the parsley, and mince the garlic. Set them aside
- Bring a small sauté pan to medium heat. Pry apart the pita (or other very flat bread) bread so it is as thin as possible. Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the hot pan and toast the bread until it is crispy. Remove the bread to cool but add the minced garlic and a little olive oil to the pan and cook it for about one minute. Note: If you can find already crispy pita or other bread, there’s no need to toast it. However, you will still want to sauté the garlic
- Place the room temperature yogurt in a bowl and add the tahini, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, the cumin, the sauteed garlic and lemon juice and mix thoroughly. If this is too thick, add a tablespoon of water to loosen it a bit
- Break the fried pita or other bread into small bites sized bits and fold it into the rice
- Cut each chicken breast into slices
- Begin assembling the Fatet Djaj in four shallow bowls by first placing in the rice at the bottom of each bowl. Spoon the yogurt sauce over the rice. Then evenly divide the chicken breast slices over the rice. Top with the minced parsley, pomegranate arils and toasted almonds.
Greg Nelson Cooks 