Convivencia, February 21, 2004

Thûmiyya, Garlicky dish of chicken

Anonymous Andalusian manuscript, trans. by Charles Perry

Take a plump hen and take out what is inside it, clean that and leave aside. Then take four ûqiyas of peeled garlic and pound them until they are like brains, and mix with what comes out of the interior of the chicken. Fry it in enough oil to cover, until the smell of garlic comes out. Mix this with the chicken in a clean pot with salt, pepper, cinnamon, lavender, ginger, cloves, saffron, peeled whole almonds, both pounded and
whole, and a little murri naqî'. Seal the pot with dough, place it in the oven and leave it until it is done. Then take it out and open the pot, pour its contents in a clean dish and an aromatic scent will come forth from it and perfume the area. This chicken was made for the Sayyid Abu al-Hasan and much appreciated.

• 8 frying chickens, 3-4 lbs each
• 3-4 lbs peeled garlic
• Olive oil
• salt
• 2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoon Ceylon Cinnamon'
• 4 teaspoon Ground ginger
• 2 teaspoon Whole cloves
• 1 tsp Saffron
• 1/2 cup peeled whole almondsî
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup murri or soy sauce

1. Chop up the garlic in a food processor
2. Remove the inside (heart, giblets, etc) bits that come in the chickens; remove any fat or stringy bits
3. Sautee chicken innards and garlic in olive oil until fragrant
4. Mix chicken innards, garlic, and almonds, spices, and murri.
5. Place chickens in a roaster that can be covered and spread garlic/spice mixture over and inside them.
6. Cover Roaster tightly and cook until chicken is done.

Lavender is omitted from this dish in this redaction.

From the files of Jadwiga Zajaczkowa (Jenne Heise), 2004