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B'Stilla

I'd wanted to make some version of this dish for many years...since I first had it in a restaurant in Los Angeles. It fascinates me and so finally I decided to try it. First I had to decide on a recipe to use which took some time. I chose two recipes to work from; one that uses a spice profile I prefer, although there are many that use a ras-el-hanout blend and I'm sure that would be every bit as good, just different. The other is more about the method - I was serving two and the recipe makes an entire pie. Since it's pastry which makes re-heating complex, I decided to make individual pies and made up 3 the first time. Here's what I came up with...we loved it!

What you need

  1. »«For the chicken»«
  2. 1 whole 3-4 lb chicken cut in pieces - legs, thighs, breasts - (reserve backs, wings and necks to roast for soup)
  3. Juice from 1 lemon
  4. 3 finely minced or ground onions
  5. 3 cloves garlic, minced
  6. 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
  7. 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro (coriander)
  8. 7 Tablespoons butter, divided
  9. 7 eggs, beaten
  10. 1 tsp ground black pepper
  11. 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  12. 1/2 tsp fresh ground turmeric
  13. 3/4 tsp ground ginger
  14. 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
  15. Large pinch saffron threads, crushed in your palm
  16. »«For the almond mixture»«
  17. 1 cup almonds
  18. 4 tsp sugar
  19. 1 T ground cinnamon
  20. »«For the pastry»«
  21. 18-20 sheets phyllo pastry
  22. 7 Tablespoons butter, melted

How you make it

Chicken

  1. Remove skin from chicken pieces and place in a large bowl
  2. Pour lemon juice over and massage in - let stand 15 minutes
  3. Rinse the chicken and put it into a large stock pot with the spices, onion, garlic, 7 Tablespoons of butter, parsley and cilantro - add 2 cups water
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked (approx. 45 min.)
  5. Remove chicken to cool and reduce the sauce over high heat until very thick
  6. Reduce heat to medium and whisk in the eggs, cooking until done - turn off heat
  7. Meanwhile, remove chicken meat from bones and shred
  8. If there is still liquid in the sauce, it can be drained briefly in a colander set over a large bowl
  9. Mix egg mixture with shredded chicken

Almond Mixture

  1. Fry almonds in oil until golden - cool slightly then chop in a food processor with sugar and 1 T cinnamon until almonds are roughly crushed - don't go to powder state

Assemble B'Stilla

  1. Preheat oven to 425º
  2. When working with phyllo dough, be sure to keep the sheets you're no working with yet between waxed paper and covered with a cloth!
  3. Melt the remaining 7 Tablespoons butter
  4. Prepare a baking pan by brushing the bottom with melted butter
  5. Take one sheet of phyllo and place it on a board in front of you with the short edge at the left and right, long edge at top/bottom
  6. Cut through the middle top to bottom to create two rectangles as shown in image 1 below
  7. Brush one with melted butter, then lay the other on top and brush also with melted butter
  8. Take another sheet of phyllo and repeat the cut and brushing with butter - you now have four layers of phyllo
  9. Position the narrow end next to you and sprinkle about 1-2 T almond cinnamon sugar mixture over about 2 in. x 4 in. starting one inch in from you and one inch border at either edge as shown in image 2 below
  10. Place a layer of chicken 2-3 T over the almond mixture, then sprinkle more almond mixture over chicken
  11. Fold edge nearest you over filling and fold over once
  12. After the first roll, fold in the sides and continue rolling as you would a burrito
  13. Place bstilla into the baking pan seam side down
  14. Repeat for as many pies as you wish to make
  15. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown on top, remove from oven and transfer to a rack for about 5 minutes

Image 1

Image 2

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