isithalal.food · Recipes

Sharkaseya with Halal chicken

Soha Darwish's Egyptian sharkaseya: a poached Halal chicken torn over a turned-out ring of short-grain rice and covered in a thick walnut, bread and garlic sauce made with the chicken's own stock.

Egyptian · Main · Moderate · 1 rice ring with sauce, for 6 · 125 min

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.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The dish is built on a whole chicken of about 1.2 kg, poached for its meat and its stock, and chicken is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered bird.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Whole chicken: Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides, and chicken without a Halal mark doesn't say how the bird was slaughtered. Here the bird gives both the meat and the stock in the sauce. Buy the chicken from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.

Ingredients

Chicken and stock

• about 1.2 kg whole Halal chicken
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 celery stick, roughly chopped
• 6 black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves

Rice

• 500 g white short-grain rice
• for the tin neutral oil, for the tin

Walnut sauce and topping

• 2 tbsp ghee or butter
• 6 garlic cloves, half crushed, half roughly chopped
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 3 slices white bread, crusts removed and torn (about 140 g)
• 150 g walnuts
• 125 g whole milk
• 400 ml chicken stock, from poaching
• 25 g walnuts, roughly chopped, to serve
• small handful coriander, chopped or whole leaves

Method

1. Poach the chicken. Put the chicken in a large, deep pan, cover it completely with cold water and add the onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns and bay leaves. Bring slowly to the boil over a gentle heat, then simmer gently for 45 to 60 minutes, skimming off any scum, until the chicken is cooked through. Lift it out and leave until cool enough to handle. Strain the stock, return it to the heat and reduce over a high heat for 20 to 25 minutes, to about 750 ml to 1 litre.
2. Cook the rice. Meanwhile, wash the rice in a large pan, swirling it with your hands and draining, several times until the water is almost clear. Add cold water to 1 cm above the rice and salt well. Bring to the boil, then cover tightly, turn the heat to its lowest and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave covered for at least 20 minutes.
3. Make the walnut sauce. Melt the ghee over a medium heat, stir in the crushed garlic and ground coriander and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant, then leave to cool slightly. Blitz the bread, walnuts and chopped garlic in a food processor until fine. Add the milk, 400 ml of the stock and the fried garlic, and blitz until smooth and thick, adding more stock if needed. Return to the garlic pan, cook for 3 to 4 minutes, and season well.
4. Assemble. Oil a 2.5 litre (27 cm) bundt tin. Take the chicken off the bone and tear it into large chunks, seasoning well. Pack the hot rice into the tin and turn it out onto a lipped serving platter. Pour most of the sauce into the middle and around the rice, top with the chicken, and scatter over the coriander and chopped walnuts. Serve the rest of the sauce on the side.

Allergens

nuts (walnuts), milk (milk, ghee or butter), gluten (bread), celery

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Sharkaseya' by Soha Darwish (serves 6: a whole chicken of about 1.2 kg covered with cold water with a roughly chopped large onion, carrot and celery stick, 6 black peppercorns and 2 bay leaves, brought slowly to the boil and simmered 45 to 60 minutes, skimming; the chicken lifted out, the stock strained and reduced 20 to 25 minutes over a high heat to about 750 ml to 1 litre; 500 g white short-grain rice washed until the water runs almost clear, covered with cold water to 1 cm above, salted, boiled, then covered on the lowest heat 15 minutes and left covered off the heat at least 20 minutes; sauce of 3 crushed garlic cloves and 2 tsp ground coriander cooked 2 to 3 minutes in 2 tbsp ghee or butter; 3 slices of crustless white bread (about 140 g), 150 g walnuts and 3 roughly chopped garlic cloves blitzed, then 125 g whole milk, 400 ml of the stock and the fried garlic blitzed smooth, cooked 3 to 4 minutes and seasoned; the hot rice packed into an oiled 2.5 litre (27 cm) bundt tin and turned out onto a lipped platter, most of the sauce poured in and around, topped with the boned, torn chicken, a small handful of coriander and 25 g chopped walnuts). The source describes it as a staple in Egyptian households, with Turkish influence. We specified a Halal chicken; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph of a chicken-over-rice platter from Flickr, not the finished dish from this recipe.