Allspice Chicken with Herby Bulgur-stuffed Tomatoes

Allspice Chicken with Herby Bulgur-stuffed Tomatoes excerpted from Lugma: Abundant Dishes And Stories From My Middle East by Noor Murad. Photography Matt Russell.

Lugma: Abundant Dishes And Stories From My Middle East by Noor Murad

“I adore this book. It’s personal, beautifully written – Noor’s voice draws you in and holds you there – and the recipes are absolutely glorious.” – Diana Henry

“There’s an incredible generosity to Noor’s cooking, capturing the spirit of so many cooks across the Middle East: bold gestures, big flavours, whole universes of food around a single table. Noor is also a unique talent; her cooking reflects the essence of home comfort, plus an unmatched innovative palate.” – Yotam Ottolenghi

In Lugma, Noor offers over 100 recipes as an ode to the food she grew up eating—traditional flavours and modern dishes from Bahrain, the surrounding Middle East, and beyond.

Lugma in Arabic means a bite. For Noor, as a chef and co-author of two Ottolenghi Test Kitchen cookbooks, her career has been centered around taking bites of food and analyzing them to create the perfect dish. Raised in Bahrain and now based in London, Noor takes you on a culinary journey to celebrate her own food culture. Her recipes are inspired by the foods of her upbringing: the elaborate rice dishes and black limes of the Gulf, an abundance of herbs and sour flavours from Iran, liberal spice and chilli heat from India, and the vibrant foods of the Levant—to create a unique collection of traditional and re-imagined dishes from the Middle East.

From Spring Time Fattoush and Stuffed Baby Aubergines to Slow-cooked Fenugreek Lamb with Pickled Chillies and Pistachio Cake with Labneh, these beautiful and inspirational recipes are full of love and warmth to be recreated in your own kitchen.

Lugma: Abundant Dishes And Stories From My Middle East by Noor Murad is available at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Indigo.ca.

Allspice Chicken with Herby Bulgur-stuffed Tomatoes

Of all the vegetables suitable for stuffing, tomatoes are perhaps the easiest and quickest and don’t require much preparation. I love how they soften and collapse ever so slightly, and how the tomato liquid provides the perfect broth-like sauce for the dish. Serve with Springtime Fattoush (page 71), if you like.

Serves 4–6

½ tbsp tomato purée (paste)

2½ tsp ground allspice

2 tsp Aleppo chilli flakes

5 tbsp olive oil

6 chicken legs, bone in, skin on (1.5kg/3lb 5oz)

130g (4¾oz) coarse-grain bulgur wheat

6 large ripe beef tomatoes (1.1kg/2lb 7oz)

20g (¾oz) parsley, roughly chopped, plus an extra 1 tbsp, chopped, to serve

20g (¾oz) mint leaves, roughly chopped

3 spring onions (scallions), trimmed and finely sliced

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses, plus 1½ tsp extra to serve

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl mix together ½ tablespoon of the tomato purée, 1 teaspoon of the allspice, all the chilli, 1 tablespoon of the oil, 1¼ teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper. Pat dry the chicken legs on paper towels and add them to the bowl, turning so that they’re evenly coated. Set aside to marinate.

Add the bulgur to a small, lidded saucepan with ¼ teaspoon of salt and 250ml (9fl oz) of water. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, then top with the lid, turn down the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, using a small, sharp knife, slice off the stem end of the tomatoes, about 1.5cm (5/8in) thick, saving the tops. Core the tomatoes, taking care not to pierce the skin. Using a small spoon, scrape out the seeds and pulp into a sieve (strainer) set over a bowl to catch the juices, leaving a 1cm (½in) border of flesh on each cored tomato. Once the pulp has drained, weigh out 100g (3½oz) of it (use the remaining pulp for something else), finely chop and add to a large mixing bowl. Place the cored tomatoes and their tops, cut-side down, on a tray lined with paper towels to absorb any excess liquid.

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7.

To the mixing bowl add the cooked bulgur, herbs, spring onions, cinnamon, the remaining 1½ teaspoons of allspice, the lemon juice, another tablespoon of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper. Mix well to combine. Season the insides of the tomatoes with a little salt and pepper, then divide the bulgur mixture between them and top with their lids. Place in a large roasting tin (about 30 x 40cm/12 x 16in). Arrange the chicken legs in the tin, skin-side up, shifting the tomatoes around so everything is evenly spaced in a single layer.

Pour the strained tomato juices into a measuring jug/cup and, if needed, top up with water to get to 200ml (7fl oz). Whisk in the remaining tablespoon of tomato purée, the pomegranate molasses, 2 tablespoons of the oil and ¼ teaspoon salt. Pour the mix into the tin, avoiding pouring on top of the chicken – you want the skin to crisp up. Drizzle over the last tablespoon of oil and roast for 50–55 minutes, basting halfway through, until the chicken is tender and golden and the tomatoes are softened but not completely falling apart. Check the tomatoes at the 45-minute mark – if they look like they’re starting to collapse, gently remove them and return the chicken to the oven. When ready to serve, return the tomatoes to the tin if necessary, then sprinkle with the extra parsley, add a drizzle of molasses and serve from the tin, or transfer to a very large serving platter.

Recipe published with permission from Quadrille.