Jireesh recipe

Cracked wheat beaten down into a tomato and dried-lime porridge, crowned with slowly caramelised onion.

5 hours and 40 minutesmedium11 ingredients

Ingredients

• 500 g jireesh cracked wheat
• 800 g chicken
• 3 onions
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 dried lime
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 1500 ml water

How to make Jireesh

1. Wash 500 g of jireesh thoroughly and soak it in boiling water for 3 hours.
2. Melt 3 tablespoons of ghee and fry 1 chopped onion until golden, then add 2 diced tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
3. Add 800 g of chicken, brown it, then tip in the drained jireesh, 2 pierced dried limes, 1.5 litres of boiling water and 2 teaspoons of salt.
4. Cover and simmer on low for about 2 hours, stirring often and adding hot water as the grain drinks it.
5. Fish out the dried limes, shred the chicken in the pot, then beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until the grain breaks down into a thick porridge: this beating is what separates jireesh from a plain wheat stew.
6. Caramelise the 2 remaining onions in a dry pan, adding a splash of water each time they catch, then finish them with a spoon of ghee.
7. Spread the jireesh on a platter, pile the caramelised onion hashu on top without stirring it in, and serve hot.

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