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Halal-conscious recipe

Chicken and apricot pastilla

A Moroccan-style pie of spiced shredded chicken with almonds, apricots and lemon in buttered filo, made with Halal chicken and Halal-certified stock.

  • Cuisine Moroccan
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Moderate
  • Yield 1 pie (22–23 cm)
  • Time 2h 5m
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
A round pastilla pie with a golden pastry top on a tiled table
Photograph from our ingredient library: a pastilla, not the finished dish.

Why Halal checks matter here

Pastilla has no pork or alcohol in BBC Good Food's version, but the chicken and the chicken stock it simmers in are only Halal from Halal-slaughtered birds.

Pastilla (bastilla) is a Moroccan pie, classically pigeon or chicken with almonds, cinnamon and a dusting of icing sugar (see pastilla). BBC Good Food's spiced chicken and apricot version uses chicken legs simmered in stock, wrapped in buttered filo rather than the traditional warqa pastry.

There is no pork or alcohol in it, so the checks are sourcing. Use Halal chicken legs (see chicken) and Halal-certified chicken stock, because the UK chicken cubes we checked contain chicken fat or stock from birds not shown to be Halal-slaughtered (see stock cubes). The filo is brushed with butter.

The filling can be made up to two days ahead and chilled. Bake the pie on a preheated baking sheet, and give it about 30 minutes to settle before cutting.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Chicken legs Chicken is Halal only from Halal slaughter. Buy from a Halal butcher or a certified pack. See Chicken and Pastilla.
  • Chicken stock Chicken stock is Halal only from Halal-slaughtered chickens, and the UK chicken cubes on our Stock cubes page contain chicken fat or stock from birds not shown to be Halal-slaughtered. Use Halal-certified chicken stock. See Stock cubes.

Safe substitutes

  • Chicken stock of unknown source → Halal-certified chicken stock

Allergens

nuts (almonds), gluten (filo), milk (butter)

Ingredients

Filling

  • 30 ml (2 tbsp) rapeseed or vegetable oil
  • 2 onions, halved and sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp fennel seeds
  • 4 Halal chicken legs
  • 500 ml (2 cups) Halal-certified chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp clear honey
  • 50 g (½ cup) ground almonds
  • 1 lemon, zested and half juiced
  • 85 g (½ cup) dried apricots, quartered
  • a small bunch parsley, chopped

Pastry

  • 270 g (1 pack) filo pastry (7 sheets)
  • 75 g (5 tbsp) butter, melted
  • to serve icing sugar and cinnamon, for dusting (optional)

Method

  1. Simmer the chicken. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large casserole and cook the onions and garlic for 8 minutes until soft. Stir in the spices for about 30 seconds, then add the chicken legs and the stock and season. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes, until the chicken is tender.
  2. Make the filling. Lift the chicken onto a plate. Add the honey and ground almonds to the liquid and simmer until thick and reduced by half, then turn off the heat. Shred the chicken finely with two forks, discarding the skin and bones, and stir it back into the sauce with the lemon zest and juice, apricots and parsley. Leave to cool; it keeps in the fridge for up to two days.
  3. Line the tin. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, gas 6) with a baking sheet on the middle shelf. Keep the filo you aren't using under a damp tea towel. Brush a 22–23 cm springform or loose-bottomed tin with oil, push in two filo sheets brushed with butter to line the base with a little up the sides, then two more across the other way. Patch any thin spots with another buttered sheet.
  4. Fill, top and bake. Spoon in the filling and pat it level. Lay two more sheets on top, buttering between the layers, and scrunch the edges round the sides. Brush the top with butter and bake on the hot baking sheet for 30 minutes until crisp and golden. Leave for about 30 minutes, then dust with a little icing sugar and cinnamon if you like.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Spiced chicken & apricot pastilla' (onion, garlic and warm spices softened; chicken legs simmered in 500 ml chicken stock for 45 minutes; the liquid reduced with honey and ground almonds; the chicken shredded and mixed back in with lemon, apricots and parsley; layered in a 22–23 cm tin lined with buttered filo and baked 30 minutes at 200°C). We specified Halal chicken legs and Halal-certified chicken stock. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Spiced chicken & apricot pastilla — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    Serves 8: oil, 2 onions, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, turmeric, fennel seeds, 4 chicken legs, 500 ml chicken stock, honey, 50 g ground almonds, lemon, 85 g dried apricots, parsley, 270 g filo, 75 g butter; 22–23 cm tin, baked 30 minutes at 200°C. We specified Halal chicken and stock.

  2. Pastilla analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    Filling and pastry fat checks for pastilla.

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