This hearty, spice-filled recipe is one of several traditional Jewish dishes that cellist Francesca Ter-Berg, a member of the UK band Sam Lee & Friends, will be cooking in the Taste the World tent at this year’s WOMADelaide.
“Chicken and Chickpeas is a traditional Sephardic dish cooked in my family,” she says.
“I come from a mixed Jewish background and the food I grew up eating reflects this. Big family gatherings accompanied by an abundance of food were commonplace and my love for food stems from those memorable experiences.
“Chicken is very popular in Jewish cooking as it is Kosher and was used as a replacement for pork, as most Jewish dishes are a variant on what was cooked in the nations in which they lived.
“Much as I love a good Eastern European stew, the flavours in this dish are much more interesting to me, which is why I have picked this Sephardi favourite. I have chosen a traditional Ashkenazi red cabbage recipe to accompany it.’
InDaily will be featuring several more Taste the World recipes from WOMADelaide artists and speakers over the next two weeks.
Chicken & Chickpeas
Sephardi recipe from Claudia Roden’s The Book of Jewish Food
Serves 4
Sam Lee & Friends
Ingredients for the chicken dish
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons rapeseed oil
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 organic cornfed chicken, quartered
250g tinned chickpeas
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cardamon pods
Salt
White pepper
Ingredients for the rice
Small knob of butter
A few saffron sprigs
2 cups white basmati rice
3 cups water
Method
In a heavy-bottomed casserole dish, fry the onion until soft. Add turmeric and stir well. Put in the chicken pieces and sauté, turning them over once, until they have browned, to seal the flavour.
Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas and cover them and the chicken pieces with water.
Add the cardamon pods, slightly cracked and the lemon juice. Bring to the boil, remove any residue on the top, then simmer for 1 hour. Add salt and pepper towards the end of cooking.
For the rice, first rinse it then fry for 1 minute in butter. Add 3 cups water and the saffron sprigs. Bring the water to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes.
Braised Red Cabbage
Ashkenazi recipe from Francesca’s mum
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 red cabbage, finely sliced
2 cooking or tart green apples, finely sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
50g butter
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
Splash of water
Method
Halve the red cabbage and discard the core. Slice finely. Core the apples and slice finely.
Heat the butter and oil in a casserole or heavy bottomed pan. Add the cabbage and apples, make sure everything gets coated, fry for 5 mins on a medium head.
Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir thoroughly.
Put on the lid and leave for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve as a side dish.
The 2014 WOMADelaide will feature 15 Taste the World sessions hosted by Adelaide chef Rosa Matto and featuring a range of international artists.
