Slow-Cooked Wheat and Chicken Porridge (Harees)

What you need

• 300 g (1 1/2 cups) hulled wheat berries, coarsely cracked wheat for harees also works
• 600 g (1 1/4 lb) boneless chicken thighs
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 2 tsp salt, adjust at the end
• 2 l (2 quarts) water
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 80 g (1/3 cup) ghee

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Rinse the wheat in several changes of cold water, then cover with plenty of fresh water and soak for 8 hours or overnight. Drain.

2. 2

   Put the chicken, cinnamon, cardamom and half the salt in a large heavy pot. Add the water and bring to a boil, skimming off the foam.

3. 3

   Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until the chicken is cooked through and reaches 74 °C (165 °F) inside, 30-35 min.

4. 4

   Lift out the chicken and shred it with two forks. Keep the cooking liquid in the pot and fish out the cinnamon and cardamom.

5. 5

   Add the drained wheat to the liquid and bring back to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer, stirring from the bottom every 15 min, until the grains are very soft and starting to split, 1 1/2-2 hours. Add hot water if the pot gets dry.

6. 6

   Stir in the shredded chicken and 3 tbsp of the ghee.

7. 7

   Beat the porridge hard with a sturdy wooden spoon over low heat for 8-10 min, until the wheat and chicken merge into a thick, smooth, slightly stretchy mass. Season with the remaining salt.

8. 8

   Fry the onion in the rest of the ghee over medium heat until deep golden, 12-15 min.

9. 9

   Spoon the harees into a wide dish, make a shallow well in the middle and fill it with the fried onion and its ghee.

Imported from thebigsweettooth.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.