Almost everyone living in the countryside grows hens, so they have the chance of having fresh and organic eggs and chicken, which are definetely tastier than their market versions as hens are not fed with any filler or chemicals. Living in a small village as a kid, I know that people in such small villages would catch one of the best chickens they grow and prepare it for dinner whenever they have important guests. The most common chicken dish for their guests is stuffed chicken. This food always reminds me of my village and people living there. It is normally stuffed with rice, but I replaced it with bulgur as I find it healthier and I think it gives a very nice flavor to chicken when combined with other ingredients.
Stuffed Chicken
- Yield: 8
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, cleaned
- ½ lemon, to rub chicken
- 1 tsp salt, to rub chicken
- 1 liter water, to boil chicken
- 1 tbsp butter, to spread on chicken before oven cooking
- Filling:
- 1 cup bulgur (or rice)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- ½ bunch of parsley, chopped
- A few sprigs fresh mint, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp black pepper
- A pinch of cinnamon
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash chicken. Chop lemon with its zest, mix it with salt, rub chicken with these and wait for about 10 minutes to remove any unpleasant smell it has. Wash it again and put aside.
- Mix all filling ingredients.
- Sew the neck hole of chicken with a heavy needle and thread before stuffing so that the filling doesn’t leak out. I used the same thread used for sewing clothes.
- Stuff it through the other hole on its end.
- Don’t press down the filling firmly as bulgur will rise when cooked.
- Sew up this hole in the same way.
- If you have leftover filling, you can make it pilaf in a small pan pouring a little hot water.
- Put stuffed chicken in a big pot.
- Pour 1 liter water over it and boil. You can increase the amount of water until it covers the chicken. Boil it for about 40 minutes.
- Preheat oven at 200C.
- Transfer the stuffed chicken into an oventray.
- Pour a few ladles of water in which you boil the chicken.
- Spread butter on it and cook until golden.
I think that’s a really nice dish and I’m going to try it when I have people visiting me. It looks very tasty 🙂 But! ”t is normally stuffed with rice, but I replaced it with bulgur as I find it healthier” Don’t you think you are a bit paranoid about getting sick and stuff? I mean ok, you should keep a healthy diet but people think and believe that rice is very healthy. Also if your body has never anything to ”fight” like sickness or bacteria you get sick easily even if you eat the most healthy food all the time. Because your body doesn’t know how to protect it self. That’s why people who live outside get less sick. Just an advice, no offence intended.
Hi Maria! Thank you for commenting and sharing you ideas here! As far as know white rice, which doesn’t have enough fiber, increases blood sugar level very fast. Bulgur, on the contrary, does it slower and keeps you full longer. Also it is digested in a longer time because of the amount of fiber it contains. You know fiber is essential for our body. I don’t mean we should never have rice, but I’m trying to substitute bulgur for rice when I can. I think we already get enough unhealthy substances by buying some packaged products or market foods.
This chicken just looks amazing, and when I find a worthy chicken I will be sure to recreate this special dish
Hep pirinçle yapmaya alışmışız, içini bulgurla hazırlamak harika bir fikir Zerrin. Lezzetinin yanında çok da sağlıklı olmuş. Doğal tavuk konusunda sana katılıyorum. Lezzet farkı inanılmaz. Ellerine sağlık.
What lovely memories…what a lovely dish. I would love to share this with friends and family. Thanks for sharing with me tonight. I’ve missed visiting you and your blog. I’m glad that I’m back 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful end to your week. Hugs from Austin!
This looks very delicious and I love the ingredients you put in for the stuffing.
flavourful looks delicious
WOW! Such a lovely chicken dish…I think my family would love it with rice, though I always like going healthier! A winner for certain 🙂
This looks like an absolutely fabulous recipe Zerrin. I have a couple of favourite whole roast chicken recipes but I think I’ll now have another one. Thanks so much for sharing this.