Arabic Aunt’s Abouli

Boil one chicken, washed and cut, with a peeled yellow onion for about 1 hour. The onion’s purpose is strictly to get rid of the gross “I’m cooking a raw chicken” smell. Once the chicken is done, you can toss the onion. After it has boiled for about 15-20 minutes, skim the froth, or starch, off the top and discard. This will prevent the water from boiling over. Then add 2 dashes or shakes of cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to the water. Once the chicken is done, set 4 cups of broth aside and shred the chicken.

Meanwhile, in another pan, put the extra virgin olive oil and slivered almonds. Slightly brown the almonds and set aside. Add the ground chuck to the same pan. While it’s browning, add 2 shakes of cimmanon and a shake or two of salt. DO NOT DRAIN. Once it’s browned, put about 4 cups of strained broth from the chicken over the meat and let it come to a boil. Then toss in 2 cups rice and let the rice soak up the broth.

In a 13×9 inch casserole dish, layer the rice, shredded chicken and then the almonds.