Back to Moroccan
b'Stilla
Serves 6-8 Prep 45 min Cook 50 min Total 1 hr 35 min Type Meal Origin Moroccan

b'Stilla

Moroccan layered pie: spiced shredded chicken (or pigeon), almonds and saffron-lemon eggs, encased in crisp filo and dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. The unusual sweet-savoury topping is the dish's signature; sounds wrong, tastes incredible.

Serves 6 Prep 45 minutes Cook 50 minutes Units Rate

Overview

Chicken poaches in a heavily spiced broth (saffron, ginger, cinnamon, lemon). The shredded meat returns to a reduced sauce thickened with beaten eggs to make a soft set. Toasted almonds with sugar and cinnamon form a layer. Everything wraps in butter-brushed filo, baked golden, and dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon.

Ingredients

Chicken layer

  • 1 kg chicken thighs (bone-in, skin on)
  • 1 onion (chopped)
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 thumb fresh ginger (grated)
  • 1 large pinch saffron threads
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 100 g unsalted butter (split)
  • 600 ml chicken stock
  • A small bunch of fresh coriander
  • A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 lemon (juice)
  • 4 eggs (large, beaten)
  • Salt

Almond layer

  • 200 g blanched almonds (toasted)
  • 4 tablespoons icing sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon orange-blossom water (optional)

Pastry

  • 8-10 sheets filo pastry
  • 100 g unsalted butter (melted)

To finish

  • Icing sugar
  • Ground cinnamon

Method

Stage 1 - Cook the chicken

  1. Melt 50 g butter in a heavy pot. Cook the onion for 8 minutes.
  2. Add the garlic, ginger, saffron, cinnamon stick, ground ginger, turmeric and pepper.
  3. Add the chicken; pour in the stock.
  4. Simmer covered for 35 minutes until the chicken is tender. Lift out; cool.

Stage 2 - Reduce and egg-bind

  1. Discard the cinnamon stick from the pot.
  2. Add the chopped coriander and parsley to the broth; reduce over high heat to about 200 ml of thick sauce.
  3. Off the heat, slowly stir in the beaten eggs (whisking continuously).
  4. Return to low heat; cook 3-4 minutes, stirring, until the eggs set into a soft scramble. Off the heat; cool slightly.

Stage 3 - Shred the chicken

  1. Discard skin and bones; shred the meat finely.
  2. Stir into the egg mixture along with the lemon juice. Season; cool fully.

Stage 4 - Almond layer

  1. Pulse the toasted almonds with the icing sugar and cinnamon in a food processor to a coarse meal.
  2. Stir in the orange-blossom water if using.

Stage 5 - Assemble

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
  2. Brush a 25 cm round oven-proof dish or springform pan generously with melted butter.
  3. Lay 5 filo sheets in the dish, brushing each with butter, letting the edges hang over.
  4. Spread half the almond mixture across the base.
  5. Spoon the chicken-egg mixture on top.
  6. Scatter the remaining almonds over.
  7. Lay 3-5 more filo sheets over the top, brushing each.
  8. Tuck or fold the overhanging edges in to seal.
  9. Brush the top with butter.

Stage 6 - Bake

  1. Bake 35-40 minutes until deep golden and crisp.
  2. Cool 10 minutes.

Stage 7 - Finish

  1. Dust the top generously with icing sugar.
  2. Run a cinnamon-stick lattice across (sprinkle ground cinnamon in lines).

Notes

  • Sweet-savoury sounds wrong, isn't: The icing sugar and cinnamon dust on top is what makes this b'stilla. Don't skip.
  • Reduce the broth WELL: Loose broth makes a wet pie. Get it thick before the eggs go in.
  • Filo dries fast: Keep unused sheets covered with a damp cloth as you work.

Storage

  • Best fresh; keeps 2 days refrigerated. The filo softens; re-crisp at 180°C for 10 minutes.
  • Freezes 2 months.

Recipes mentioned here

1 / 1

More like this

1 / 4
Doro Wat

Doro Wat

Ethiopia's national dish, the spiced chicken stew that turns up at every wedding, Easter feast and Christmas table, and the one dish a cook is judged on. The foundation is the onion - you cook it down slowly for nearly an hour into a deep dark base, and this is the step that decides whether the wat is great or merely acceptable. Berbere (the Ethiopian spice blend of chilli, fenugreek, ginger and a dozen others) and niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter, the dish's defining fat) fold in. Chicken thighs and legs simmer in the deep red sauce, and hard-boiled eggs join late, scored with a knife so they take on the colour and the flavour. Eaten communally from a single platter, with injera flatbread torn into pieces to scoop the stew. No cutlery, no individual plates, hands clean before the meal.

Ethiopian 2 hours Serves4-6
Kabsa

Kabsa

Saudi Arabia's national dish, the one platter you'll meet at almost every gathering from family lunch through wedding banquet. You brown chicken pieces or lamb shoulder hard in a heavy pot, then build a base of onion, garlic and ginger softened in the same fat, with tomato and a spoonful of baharat (or a dedicated kabsa spice mix) blooming until the kitchen fills with cardamom and cinnamon. The protein simmers in tomato and stock until it's tender and pulling away from the bone, then long-grain rice goes in to cook absorption-style in the same liquid, drinking up every layer of flavour the broth carries. You finish with almonds toasted in butter, raisins plumped briefly, and a fresh salsa of tomato, onion, chilli and parsley spooned on the side to cut the richness. Eaten communally from the centre platter, with hands or a long spoon.

Arabian 1 hour 35 minutes Serves6