Azerbaijan - Khan Plov (Chicken Pilaf)

Happy Novruz! In Azerbaijan, the new year and the beginning of spring is celebrated from March 20th to 26th. In the spirit of this holiday, I made Khan Plov (Chicken Pilaf), a traditional Novruz Azerbaijan dish.

Azerbaijan is a country at the crossroads of South-West Asia and South-East Europe. It is situated south of Russia and north of Iran. Azerbaijan gained its independence from Russia in 1918, becoming the first democratic state in the Muslim Orient. It later became part of the Soviet Union in 1920 and then again proclaimed its independence in 1991.

Every year in Azerbaijan, the Novruz holiday is observed on the vernal spring equinox, celebrating new year and new life. The history of Novruz goes back more than 2,600 years. Novruz is traditionally a holiday in the Zoroastrian faith, one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. Now the celebration is a secular holiday beloved by many Azerbaijanis. During the soviet rule, official celebrations for Novruz were banned. Despite this, many Azerbaijanis continued their traditions and rituals among their families and communities.

Novruz celebrations begin a month before the start of spring. A festival is held on the four Tuesdays leading up to Novruz, with each Tuesday focusing on a different element: water, fire, wind and earth. Fire Tuesday symbolises warmth, comfort and purification. Bonfires are lit and people jump over the fire. It is believed that by doing this their troubles and hardships will be left behind in the old year and the new year will be happy and prosperous.

Food is a crucial part of a Novruz celebration. Each Tuesday has a special dish but the signature dish of Novruz and Azerbaijan cuisine is pilaf. In Azerbaijan culture there are about 200 kinds of pilaf, both savoury and sweet. On the day of the equinox, households decorate a special festive table called a Khoncha. It is set with candles (protection from evil spirits), a mirror and painted eggs (symbolising the end of the old year and beginning of the new), plants or flowers (to celebrate new life) and seven dishes. The dishes all have to begin with the letter ‘s’, for example, sabzi (greens) or skad (milk). Zoroastrians believe that food should be prepared carefully and eaten with great respect because it was made from the gifts of nature. In honour of these traditions, I made a Khan Plov (Chicken Pilaf) and also tried to decorate our table in the Novruz style.

Khan Plov - Chicken Pilaf in a Crust

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 2 cups stock 
• 500g chicken thighs
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed 
• 10 strands of saffron
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 cup nuts (I used almonds and cashews)
• 2 cup dried fruit (I used apricots, prunes and cherries), diced
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 4 large pieces of flatbread

Preheat oven 200°C

Poach the chicken in a simmering pot of water (or stock) until cooked (about 15 mins). Remove chicken, let it cool and then shred into pieces.

Use any method to cook the rice in about 2 cups of stock (I used a rice cooker).

Combine the saffron and ½ cup hot water in a small container and set aside.

Add 2 Tbs of melted butter, add the diced onions and crushed garlic and cook for 2 mins until soft.

Add the paprika, cumin seeds, nuts, fruit, chicken, saffron water, lemon juice and rice. Stir until combined and liquid has evaporated.

Brush the bottom and sides of a 12-inch ovenproof pot (with a lid) with melted butter

Cut the flatbread into 5 cm strips and brush both sides with melted butter. One piece at a time, lay the flatbread into the pot from the centre up the sides (leaving about 7-8 cm of overhang). Keep adding flatbread until the whole pot in covered.

Add the rice mixture to the centre of the pot. Cover the rice with the flatbread overhand.

Bake in the oven for 40 mins covered and then 10 mins uncovered.

When the pilaf is cooked. Carefully but quickly invert the pot onto a serving plate.

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This was a really fun dish to make! It was really delicious and the flavours from the nuts, fruits and spices were really interesting. This was my first time using saffron in my cooking and I really liked the unique flavour it has. The crunchy crust gives the pilaf a nice texture and is a cool way to present the dish. But if you wanted to save time you could serve the pilaf without the crust and it would still be delicious.

185 meals to go. Next stop on my world tour: The Bahamas!