This recipe for Balochi chicken sajji with rice comes from the nomadic tribes of Balochistan and has the simple charm and honesty of their uncomplicated living style.
Sajji is slow roasted meat – traditionally, a whole lamb stuffed with rice, as lamb is very popular with Balochis who usually farm goats and sheep. In urban areas, however, sajji is preferably cooked with chicken.
Chicken sajji is served with both delicious onion and dates fried rice and a special roti, “kaak”, which is in Balochistan baked over hard hot stone. Although it’s a great recipe for outdoors, I have tried to recreate it within the convenience of my own kitchen.
The sajji and the bread both are baked in the oven, and I’m happy to say the result is very delicious. The chicken turned out so tasty, falling off the bones, that I’m planning to roast some more to use later on for sandwiches, burgers and pita pockets.
The bread has a wonderful salty biscuit-like texture. I made five breads; three of them were eaten with lunch, the other two have disappeared from the fridge between lunch and dinner 😉 You can find the recipe for this special kind of bread (“kaak”).
In this recipe, I used saffron, which is quite expensive and may not be easily available in many places, so you can skip it as it won’t effect the taste of the dish much. Saffron basically adds to the aroma and colour of the rice. You can use 1/4 teaspoon turmeric instead.
I have used skinless chicken because no one in my family likes the skin bit. You can bake it with skin on. In that case don’t make slits on the chicken.
Ingredients:
For Balochi Chicken Sajji:
1 whole chicken (1 kg)
3 table spoons ginger-garlic paste
4 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 black cardamoms (badi alychee)
2 teaspoons dried pomegranate seeds (anar dana)
2 teaspoons cumin seeds (zeera)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf)
1 teaspoon coriander seeds (dhanya)
For Rice:
2 cups long grain basmati rice
2 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 + 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 stick cinnamon
2 black cardamoms
4 green cardamoms
10 dates, pitted and chopped
A few strands saffron soaked in 2 tablespoons milk (optional)
