Chicken Freekeh

Rinse the chicken, place it in a pot, cover with water, add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom and half of the salt. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam, then cover and simmer over low heat for 35–40 minutes, until the meat is tender.

Remove the chicken, take the meat off the bones and cut it into large chunks. Strain the broth; measure out 700 ml of hot broth for the freekeh.

Sort through the freekeh and rinse it, rinsing the rice separately. In a wide pot, heat the oil with the butter, add the onion and cook for 5–7 minutes until soft. Add the freekeh and rice and sauté for 2–3 minutes, stirring, so the grains are coated with fat.

Pour in the hot chicken broth, add the remaining salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over the lowest heat for 25–30 minutes, until the freekeh and rice have absorbed the liquid and become tender.

Remove the pot from the heat without lifting the lid and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then fluff the freekeh with a fork and gently mix through.

Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet for 2–3 minutes until golden, shaking the pan constantly so they don't burn.

Spread the freekeh on a serving platter, arrange the chicken on top, sprinkle with pine nuts and serve with chilled yogurt.