Seffa medfouna with chicken

Ingredients

• 500 g fine vermicelli (angel hair)
• 3 tbsp oil
• 600 ml water
• 1.5 tsp salt
• a few small pieces of butter
• For the sauce:
• 500 g chicken
• 2 large onions, finely sliced, one of them fresh
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ½ tsp ginger
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander
• 400 ml water
• To garnish:
• 75 g raisins, soaked in water
• blanched, toasted and roughly chopped almonds
• icing sugar
• ground cinnamon

Method

1. Fill the bottom pot of the couscoussier with water, cover and bring to the boil. Rub the vermicelli with the oil in a bowl.
2. Put the vermicelli into the steamer basket; as soon as steam rises, cover and cook for 35 minutes.
3. Tip the vermicelli into the bowl, moisten with the hot salted water and loosen with a fork and your hands until the liquid is absorbed. Steam a second time for 30 minutes.
4. Loosen again and moisten with hot water. For the third steaming, put the raisins into the basket with the vermicelli on top and cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Finally mix in a few small pieces of butter.
5. Put the almonds in boiling water for a few minutes, skin them, dry them, toast them lightly golden in oil and roughly chop half of them.
6. For the sauce, brown the chicken in the hot oil for a few minutes, add the onions, spices and coriander and let them sweat briefly.
7. Pour in the water, cover and cook for about 30 minutes, until the meat comes away from the bone. Take out the chicken and let the sauce reduce.
8. Let the chicken cool a little, take it off the bone and cut it finely.
9. Put half the vermicelli on a dish, make a hollow, add the chicken and sauce and cover with the rest of the vermicelli in a pyramid.
10. Decorate with chopped and whole toasted almonds, cinnamon and icing sugar and serve at once.