Lavangi stuffed chicken
Lavangi is a whole chicken stuffed with barberries, pomogarante molases, medlar paste and crushed walnuts which originates from the north of Iran, Astara.
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Chicken
- 3 Onion Large
- 1/2 Cup Pomegranate molasses
- 1/2 Cup Sour Plum Paste
- 1/2 Cup Barberries
- 1 Cup Walnuts
- 2 Tomatoes Large
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tbsp Turmeric
- 1 tbsp Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Remove the giblets and neck from the chicken cavity. Rinse the chicken thoroughly with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Coat the chicken with turmeric, salt, pepper, and pomegranate molasses. Make sure inside and outside of the chicken is fully coated. Set the chicken aside for 30 minutes or you can leave it in the fridge overnight.
- Prepare the stuffing start by chopping the onions and caramelizing them with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over low-medium heat.
- Crush the walnuts in a food processor until they are finely chopped.
- In a bowl, mix the pomegranate molasses, sour plum paste, caramelized onion, crushed walnuts, tomatoes, and barberries until a dark paste is achieved.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F and grease the oven pan.
- Spoon the stuffing lightly into the neck and body cavities of the chicken. Fold the loose skin over the stuffing and either sew the skin to close it or use toothpicks. Tie the ends of the drumsticks together using thread.
- Place the chicken in the oven pan and cover the chicken with the left-over of the stuffing. Close the lid of your pan and cook it on bake for 1 hour on 350°F or until you get a golden-brown glazed chicken.
Notes
- If you cannot find pomegranate molasses in the supermarket, just make homemade pomegranate molasses by cooking down the pomegranate juice in a pan for about an hour until it thickens to a brown paste. For a sweeter taste, you can add sugar as well. The leftovers can be easily stored in a refrigerator.
- The medlar paste is not available outside of Iran supermarkets and you can replace it with sour plum paste.
- If you have access to medlar you can make it at home. The medlar paste is made from smashed peeled medlars. If you want to make it yourself, then take 2 cups of smashed medlar combined with ½ cup of sugar and place it in a pan and stir/cook it over low heat until a rich chocolate color with a thick paste texture is achieved.
- In order to wash the barberries, soak them in a bowl of water, and gently scoop them out of the water with a strainer. This way their residues will sink down into the bowl and barberries are washed.