The Best Celebration Rice with Chicken & Lamb | Food52 + Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love

In honor of the holidays, Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad share a festive celebration rice recipe with lamb, chicken, and garlic yogurt. This dish is incredibly flavorful with the rice cooked in a chicken stock made from scratch and is joined by spiced ground lamb, chunks of tender chicken, creamy yogurt and topped with crunchy fried almonds and pine nuts as well as pomegranate seeds and parsley. GET THE RECIPE ►► f52.co/30wg1Hg
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VIDEO CHAPTERS:
0:00:00​ Intro
0:01:52 The Beautiful Base
0:05:53 Let's Talk About Rice
0:08:50 The Garlicky Yogurt
0:09:39 The Crunchy Topping
0:11:26 Finish the Chicken
0:14:22 Perfecting Your Presentation
0:16:41 Now We're Ready to Celebrate
PREP TIME: 1 hour 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 2 hours 20 minutes
SERVES: 6 to 8
INGREDIENTS
Chicken
1 whole chicken (3 lb/1.4kg)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 yellow onion, cut into 6 wedges (51/4 oz/150g)
1 head of garlic, skin on and halved crosswise
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup (5 grams) flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Rice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, finely chopped (1 cup/150 grams)
2 ounces (300 grams) ground lamb
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups (400 grams) basmati rice, rinsed, soaked in cold water for at least 1 hour, and then drained
Garlic Yogurt
3 cups (500 grams) whole-milk Greek yogurt
2 garlic cloves, minced
Garnish
1/4 cup (50 grams) unsalted butter
1/4 cup (30 grams) blanched almonds
1/4 cup (30 grams) pine nuts
3/4 teaspoon Aleppo chile, or 1/2 teaspoon standard red pepper flakes
1/4 cup (5 grams) parsley leaves
1/4 cup (40 grams) pomegranate seeds
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As a one-stop shop for joyful living, Food52 connects discerning home cooks with the interests they're passionate about via award-winning food and lifestyle content across platforms. We provide our audience with the recipes and solutions they crave to eat thoughtfully, live joyfully, entertain beautifully, and travel differently.

[@kaiju_k5042]

Nice to see Noor cooking this delish dish, what a great team! I've been a huge fan of Ottolenghi for so long, his rice recipes are out of this world and this collab is chef's kiss, and this also reminds me to get their new cookbook!

[@sofianiazi5447]

I made this on Christmas Eve OMG it turned out beautiful!! My family & friends loved it and I’m making it again today !!!

[@sofianiazi5447]

I have made this three time already !! It’s just superb !! Thank you for this wonderful recipe

[@lsh292]

So yum. On days when I’m busy I put chicken thighs with cinnamon in air fryer and then make the rice with cinnamon sticks, star anise and cardamom and mix it all together like you did. Still turns out nice. Thnx for an amazing recipe

[@ErichEats]

I have found a great substitution for Aleppo pepper is ground Korean chilli (gochugaru). Not totally the same, but its got similar notes.

[@Hollis_has_questions]

I like coriander and mint leaves on top. As I may not be able to get pomegranate seeds, I’m thinking to use barberries, perhaps mixed with pomegranate molasses. The Food52 printed recipe has the rice resting for 15 minutes instead of 10 minutes (oops!). I think I’ll add 1 t. cardamom to the rice and some julienned fresh or dried mint to the chicken while it’s heating up in the stock.

[@josephinedavidson5968]

Bought your book and love it x made the potato pie ! My god it is heavenly and guests loved it, particularly love watching you all cook here ! Who needs TV give me OTK every time ! I am hooked and Thankyou x

[@sylviasolder7389]

I LOOOOVE Middle East food. I have eaten this rice from a Palestinian families I knew once when I lived in England. Soo delicious!!

[@sophiejones7916]

That looks so delicious!

[@christinahamlin3015]

This looks so delicious! I will definitely be trying out this celebration recipe

[@cpp8227]

Beautiful!! I love the idea of cooking the rice with the browned lamb. Thank you for sharing.

[@food52]

Thank you for watching Cynthia!

[@nilzthorbo5437]

this dish is insanely good. i replaced the half of parsley with coriander leafes. it matches perfectly fine with the spicy flavour of cinnamon. i can imagine that even cardamom instead allspice would fit in there too. gonna try this next time. thank you!

[@Hollis_has_questions]

I want cardamom, too. Coriander and mint leaves are my choice for topping. I want to teach my tongue to love lamb and yogurt before I am no more. This dish is to me a celebration of life. I am very excited to prepare it. However, there is me and no one else; this is a huge platter, so how can it be frozen?

[@slugbiker]

looks delicious!

[@patriciaborge6036]

Wow love it 😊

[@Grace-gp5mz]

@Yottam, keep your onions in the fridge. It really cuts down on the sting! 😊

[@eveliendurkstra5763]

So celebratory it didn’t even need the candles;-) jk! Love it😃

[@bonnielass82]

Yum!!

[@natalieharris8602]

Yotam and Noor are a beautiful couple ♥️♥️ You can tell they enjoy each other.

[@erickim3891]

*husband

[@daniellashaw1661]

Can you substitute something for the lamb?

[@CookbooksonRepeat]

I think I should make this for Christmas dinner! Forget the ham and Turkey!! ❤️

[@alhu2633]

Can you add a link to the garlic press that you use? Thanks!

[@aisa2407]

to wash the rice is very important regarding arsen! washing and soaking to minimize it to a minimum!

[@nathanbenton2051]

is that an induction or electric stovetop?

[@Amethyst1919]

Onions... cut off both ends and core out the root like you would a tomato. Immediately rinse. the root keeps the tear causing chemical under pressure. Cutting it out releases that pressure so it all comes out at once. Rinse and its gone in one fell swoop. works every time unless you happen across a REALLY potent onion that might get you a bit before you're done, but sooooo much less. Spread the word... I share this so much butit has yet to go further.

[@yanafelani]

why are they serving food on paper????

[@hildecuvelier6674]

Why put the rice on a paper?

[@wadehyde451]

Do not breathe through your nose when you chop onions. You will not cry.

[@TwinAngelsDesigns]

Missed opportunity to talk about when to wash or not wash your rice. With all that fat in the pan it's totally unnecessary to wash it, and rinses away a lot of that lovely basmati flavor. Y'all know there are no absolutes in the kitchen, so "always wash" and "never wash" are both just wrong.

[@Patience694]

Ottolenghi is unnecessary -- Noor can do this without him.