Palestinian Maftoul Dinner
By Cookwithdena

This is a very traditional Palestinian dish that is usually handmade and takes hours to make. It’s little pearls made of semolina, flour and water and is dried and roasted. I’m going to be using an easier route to make this dish. It’s less than an hour from start to finish. Let’s get started!

Recipe:
⁃ 1 whole chicken quartered and skinned
⁃ 1 tbs Seasoning salt
⁃ 1 tbs Black Pepper
⁃ 1/2 cup of Olive oil
⁃ 3 Bay leaves
⁃ 10 cups of water
⁃ Add in 1/2 of teaspoon of cardamom powder
⁃ 3 table spoons of chicken bouillon (pollo verde)
⁃ 1 15oz chickpeas drained
⁃ 1 small can of tomato paste
⁃ 1 10 oz can tomato sauce
⁃ 1 medium onion diced small
⁃ 1 box or two cups of Maftoul
⁃ 1 table spoon of cumin
Directions:
⁃ In a large pot, add in 1/4 c of olive oil and turn on high heat. Add in the chicken.
⁃ Sear the chicken on high until both sides are browned. Sprinkle on the chicken bouillon, seasoned salt, black pepper, cardamom powder, and bay leaves. While searing cover the chicken to lock the moisture in the pot.
⁃ Once chicken is browned add 10 cups of water
⁃ Cook for 40 minutes on high covered
⁃ Take 3 1/2 cups of the chicken stock on the side.
⁃ In the pot with the chicken, add in the tomato paste, tomato sauce and chickpeas and cover and allow to simmer on low for 15-20 mins.
⁃ In a large saucepan, add in 1/4 cup of olive oil and the diced onions and cumin.
⁃ Sauté everything until the onion gets soft, about 5-8 minutes.
⁃ Add in the Maftoul and sauté together until fully incorporated.
⁃ Add in the reserved chicken stock.
⁃ Mix together and cover with a lid, lower the heat and keep covered for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork when finished.
Serving the Maftoul:
⁃ In a platter spread the fluffed Maftoul, take out the chicken from the tomato stew and place ontop of the Maftoul.
⁃ Drizzle a little bit of the stew on the chicken.
⁃ Serve the rest of the stew in a bowl next to the Maftoul platter.
Alf Saha o Hana!
❤️ Cookwithdena