Instant Chicken Haleem

Haleem is a thick beefy stew popular in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Pakistani, Bengali and Indian cuisine. In Anatolia, Iran, the Caucasus region and northern Iraq, other variations of Haleem, Keşkek and Harisa, are popular. Although the dish varies from region to region, it always includes  wheat,  barley,  lentils  and meat. A variation of Haleem called Khichra and Hyderabadi Haleem is very popular in India. 

Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haleem

Being a hardcore Hyderabadi, I just can’t wait for the Ramadan month to feast on the glorious Haleem.  It’s a laborious process and generally takes a whole day to make it in the traditional method. Haleem is generally served at Hyderabadi weddings and sold at every nook n corner of the city during the Ramadan. It’s a nutritious and hearty meal for the Islamic believers to compensate for their day long fast.

I'm presenting to you, a simple, healthy and definitely yummy version of this famous Haleem. You’ll be surprised how easy and tasty this will turn out. Trust me, your family will be asking for more and you will never say NO to make this over and over. All credit goes to my sis-in-law who let me poach this recipe of hers and it was an instant hit with our family. 

Difficulty level: Low

Quantity: Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Can be served as: An appetiser instead of soup at a party or even as a main for a weekday meal. 

Ingredients

Oats – 3 cups

Onions- 3 big ones; cut into thin rings

Chicken - ½ kg; pressure cooked with some water, 2 pinches of salt and turmeric. De-bone and shred the flesh once it’s cool enough to touch and retain the stock in another bowl. Additionally, I prefer to use the chicken stock cubes (Maggi); it adds more flavour to the stock. Drop 2 cubes into the stock when it’s still hot.

Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp

Cashews, pistachios and raisins – a handful of all of them put together. Lightly fried in 2 tbsp of Ghee (clarified butter). You don’t need to drain the ghee out after frying.

Salt to taste

Vinegar – 1 tsp

Turmeric – ¼ tsp

Red Chilli powder – as per heat required

Whole spices – Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Star anise; 3 of each slightly pounded

Refined Oil – as per required

Lime juice – for garnish

Coriander – 1 small bunch finely chopped for garnish

Preparation:

Firstly, cut 2 onions into thin rings and fry them in a Kadai. Use oil generously and you must ensure the oil is hot when dropping the onions in the oil. Fry in medium heat till they turn golden brown and crisp. Ensure you keep a constant key on the onions else you could burn them. Remove from flame, drain the onions and keep aside the oil for later use. This will be used for garnishing mainly.

Take a non-stick dish; pour 4 tbsp of oil, which you saved after frying the onions. Heat stove and once the oil is hot, drop in the pounded whole spices and the finely chopped raw onion. Once the onion is cooked through, add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Then, measure 5 cups of chicken stock and pour in the dish.

Once the stock comes to a boil, add the oats, dry fruits in ghee, chilli powder (please be cautious, as the whole spices that we have added are quite spicy enough), vinegar, shredded chicken and cook for a few minutes. Keep checking so that it doesn't become lumpy or too thick. You could add more stock to the mixture if it gets too thick but ensure you don’t add too much stock. Check the salt and chilli by tasting and add if needed. Don’t add salt blindly, as the stock will have some salt and if you have added the stock cubes as well, then I reckon, the salt will be perfect.

Generally oats takes 3 minutes to cook, but I would suggest leaving it a little longer so that the Haleem starts leaving the oil and has that rich texture. The shredded chicken would have all mixed up well giving a nice meaty favour. 

Take off from the heat, garnish with the golden fried onions, a dash of lime juice and top it up with freshly chopped coriander. You could also add some fine chopped pistachios and cashew as well.

Serve hot with a mischievous smile while your family goes gaga over your hard work!

Reality check:

• Healthy, nutritious and simple recipe
• Your family will never know it’s the same old boring oats; they’ll surely go for a second serving without grinning. But make sure you don’t reveal the secret!
• I haven’t tried making this with lamb, but I am sure it will taste very similar or even better
• I have avoided using much of the Ghee since my hubby hates the smell of it. But if your family has no issues with Ghee, pour a tbsp of warm Ghee right at the end. I absolutely love it that way!