Pastilla with chicken and almonds

Ingredients

• For the chicken:
• 1 chicken of 1.75 kg, quartered and skinned
• 2 kg onions, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch of parsley, chopped
• ½ bunch of coriander, chopped
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 10 saffron threads
• 2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp pepper
• 3 pinches of ras el-hanout, optional
• 1 tsp smen (aged, salted butter)
• 8 cl oil
• Salt
• 1 tbsp honey
• 4 eggs
• For the almonds:
• 650 g blanched almonds
• 100 g icing sugar, or to taste
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• For folding:
• 400 g pastilla sheets
• 80 g butter
• Oil for cooking
• 1 egg yolk
• For dusting:
• Icing sugar
• Ground cinnamon

Method

1. Put the onions, chicken, spices, smen, oil and herbs into a heavy-bottomed pot.
2. Cook covered over a low heat so that the onions release their water and the chicken stews in it; turn the chicken from time to time.
3. Lift out the cooked chicken, take the meat off the bones and break it into pieces.
4. Stir the honey into the onion sauce and reduce it over a very low heat, stirring, until it becomes like jam; take off the excess oil and set it aside.
5. Mix the chicken pieces into the onions, add the eggs and cook gently for 2 to 3 minutes over a low heat, stirring carefully. Let the filling cool.
6. Fry the almonds or roast them in the oven until golden, chop them and mix with the icing sugar and cinnamon.
7. Mix the oil taken off with the melted butter and brush the pastilla sheets with it while folding.
8. Shape one large pastilla or several small ones from the sheets, chicken filling and almonds.
9. Cook until golden in a pan with hot oil or in an oven preheated to 180 °C.
10. Serve hot, dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon.