the first time i had bestilla was at a moroccan restaurant in san francisco, el mansour, which was served family-style. think along came polly-esque, minus the heat and profusely sweating ben stiller. great image to start a recipe entry, right?
anyway, this dish is a meal in itself. the middle eastern-spiced chicken is wrapped in flaky phyllo dough and topped with powdered sugar, making it sweet & savory. i will say that this dish is tasking...this is the first time i used phyllo dough and it is incredibly fragile, but so worth it! i think this is one that will be made for special occasions only.
BESTILLA
published in the food of morocco: a journey for food lovers by tess mallos (pg 189)
- 150 g (5 1/2 oz) smen, ghee, or butter
- 1.5 kg (3 lbs 5 oz) chicken, quartered or 3 x 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) squab pigeon, halved
- 2 large red onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 t ground ginger
- 1 1/2 t ground cumin
- 1/4 t cayenne pepper
- 1/2 t ground tumeric
- pinch of saffron threads soaked in 2 T warm water
- 500 ml (17 fl oz or 2 c) chicken stock
- 1 T lemon juice
- 3 T chopped flat-leaf (italian) parsley
- 3 T chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
- 5 eggs, lightly beaten
- 100 g (3 1/2 oz or 2/3 c) blanched almonds, toasted and finely chopped
- 3 T icing (confectioners') sugar, plus extra to serve
- 1 t ground cinnamon, plus extra to serve
- 14 sheets phyllo dough
- 100 g (3 1/2 oz) smen, extra, melted
preheat oven to 160°C (315°F).
melt smen in a flameproof casserole dish over medium heat and brown the chicken or squab well. remove chicken and set aside.
add onion to heated smen and cook for 10 mins or until golden brown. stir in garlic and spices, then stir in saffron, its soaking liquid, and the stock. add chicken and turn to coat. cover and put in the oven for 1 hr or until cooked, turning occasionally. add a little extra water if needed.
remove the chicken, reserving the sauce. discard the cinnamon stick. remove the meat from the bones and cut into small pieces (or shred).
increase the oven temperature to 180°C (350°F).
put the reserved sauce, lemon juice, and herbs in a large pan and reduce over high heat for 10 mins until thick. reduce the heat to very low, gradually stir in eggs until scrambled, then remove from heat. add meat and season.
in a bowl, mix together almonds, icing sugar, and cinnamon. set aside.
grease a 30 cm (12 in) pizza or pie pan with melted smen.
stack 8 sheets of phyllo dough and brush top sheet with smen. place that sheet evenly across pan with ends overhanging. repeat with the next 7 sheets, brushing and fanning sheets to cover pan, overhanging evenly all round.
fill with the chicken mixture and smooth over. fold half of the flaps back over and brush top with smen and sprinkle with almond mixture. fold the remaining sheets over and brush with smen.
brush remaining 6 sheets with smen, fanning over pie as before. use kitchen scissors, cut overhanging pastry evenly around edge about 3 cm (1 1/4 in) from edge of pan. using a rubber spatula to lift edge of pie, tuck overhanging pastry underneath. bake for 45-50 mins.
sift powdered sugar over top of pie and make a lattice pattern with extra ground cinnamon.
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