Barberry rice with chicken Ras el Hanout

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 1 chicken, ready to cook, approx. 1 kg
• 2 tsp Ras el Hanout
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 100 g rice
• 200 ml water or vegetable stock
• 50 g dried barberries
• 1 pinch(s) saffron threads
• 2 pinches of sugar
• 1 tbsp water, warm
• salt and pepper
• Butter or clarified butter

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

my variant of Zereshk Polo

Crush the saffron threads with a pinch of sugar in a mortar and pestle and let them dissolve in 1 tablespoon of warm water for about 60 minutes. Wash the chicken and season the inside with salt and pepper. Mix together the ras el hanout, honey, and oil (add a little more oil if the mixture is too thick) and brush the chicken with the mixture. Place the chicken in a roasting pan (I always place it in an upside-down Bundt pan so it gets nice and crispy on all sides). Place in the oven at 200°C (convection oven) for 20 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 180°C (convection oven) and let the chicken cook in the oven for another 40 to 50 minutes. Brush regularly with the honey-oil mixture and the cooking juices, turning occasionally. Cook the rice in salted water or vegetable broth according to the package instructions. Remove about half of the rice and color it yellow with the saffron water. Keep warm. Sauté the barberries in a pan with a little butter or clarified butter, add a pinch of sugar, toss everything together again, and add to the white rice. Keep warm. Remove the chicken from the oven, carve it up, and arrange on plates. Alternate layers of white and yellow rice in a cup or dish and turn one portion out onto the chicken plate. If you like, you can add the barberries to the rice dish as the first layer instead of mixing them with the white rice.