Balli Mahmudiye

Having noticed that we like going to Turkish restaurants, Son #2 recently bought us a super Turkish cookbook. We've been enjoying trying out some of the recipes.

Today I made this Balli Mahmudiye, aka Lemon and Apricot Cinnamon Chicken. It's really easy to make and tastes delicious. According to the book, it was served at opulent dinner parties in the Ottoman capital of Bursa in the 15th & 16th centuries. Originally named after Sultan Mahmud, it was a lavish mix of chicken with several fruits and pine nuts. Nowadays (as here) it uses a less extensive mix of fruits but still retains a light, lemony sauce along with apricots and cinnamon. It's best cooked with orzo rather than rice.

The inset shows the picture of the dish as seen in the cookbook. As usual the picture in the book looked rather better than my effort! However I reckon they cheated: their apricot slices look much brighter than mine, so I think they added them at the very end, rather than half-way through as in the recipe. Also they've also clearly sprinkled the dill and parsley on at the end rather than stirring it in as instructed in the recipe. Mine still tasted good though... :)

(We've had a busy but lovely day - helping my Dad with some jobs this morning, and chatting to all 3 sons at once this afternoon on a 4-way Skype video call [Newcastle, Oxford, Bath and Detroit - modern technology is amazing!]. Bliptime has therefore been at a minimum, hence this rather quick "food porn" blip.)