Baharat Chicken with Pita Bread

By

Sid Khullar

– September 22, 2008Posted in: Columns & Recipes

Baharat Chicken with Pita Bread

Naheed recently went to Bahrain for a holiday. On his return he brought me two spices I had only heard of before -Summack (or Summak) and Bahara. I’m not really sure how to describe Summack – it’s red in color and looks like a fine, lustrous chilli powder and baharat is a mixture of spices that is a vague khaki in color. Both do not bear any resemblence to anything I’ve tasted before. I wasn’t sure how to use the Summack, so I had a go at the Baharat to begin with. After grinding together some cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns and cardamom, I marinated some chicken with the ground spices along with baharat, curd, chilli powder and salt for about an hour. Fried some finely sliced onions till golden brown and added the entire chicken mixture to the pan and fried on high heat till a thick brown gravy was visible and the chicken was cooked on the outside. Then added some water, tahini (sesame seed and olive oil paste) and cream and simmered it till the gravy was thick and the chicken cooked through – about 15 minutes. Served it with pita bread. Tasted quite unlike anything I’ve made before and was quite nice! - Sid PS: Did I mention I’ll be in Goa for the next 4 days?

Related Posts:

1. Coconut Mutton Curry
   
2. Golden Chicken Curry
   
3. Chicken Stewed in Coconut Milk
   

Tags: Black Pepper, bread, Cardamom, Chicken, chicken recipe, Cinnamon, Cloves, Corn, cream, Gravy, Mari, Onion, Pepper, Salt, Sesame Seed, Simmer, Spices

About Sid Khullar

Sid is the primary contributor to and editor of Chef at Large. A self confessed food addict who likes cooking, writing and photography... and travel, if it gets him closer to a good book and interesting food. He's spent 17 years in varying functions of technology including research & development, training, sales, marketing and mentoring technology startups. He now applies himself to learning more about food and building food and beverage brands online for Brands at Large clients. Sid covers Delhi/NCR for Chef at Large and can be reached at editor@chefatlarge.in

6 Comments

1. Reply

   Toni-anne

   Posted September 22, 2008 at 10:10 AM

   Sumach tastes lemony. Not heard of the other one, will do a search…

   Have a great time in Goa, wish I could go too!

2. Reply

   Sid

   Posted September 22, 2008 at 10:21 AM

   Yes it did taste a little sour and it also had the effect of instantly drying out my taste buds… I had also encountered the same spice in a Czech restaurant in Sheffield. I believe it is meant more for sprinkling as an add on on roasts and grills, rather than for cooking with.

3. Reply

   Toni-anne

   Posted September 22, 2008 at 10:46 AM

   I think I’ll live without it!

4. Reply

   Foodlover

   Posted September 24, 2008 at 6:55 PM

   I think Sumac is a type of berry… Its red and has a lemony taste to it… usually added to meats… came upon these spices when I was in my Middle Eastern cooking phase!

5. Reply

   Sid

   Posted September 29, 2008 at 4:53 AM

   Thanks Foodlover! I think I’ll try it out today.

6. Reply

   Nancy B

   Posted March 31, 2011 at 8:56 PM

   This description may help in using Sumac – from –

   “Rather tart and astringent in taste, sumac is often referred to as a “souring agent.” It was once used to calm the stomach. Today sumac is considered mainly a condiment used much like salt in that it is passed in small dishes at the table. “