As the weather get warmer here, I like to start lightening up the dishes. My husband just returned from a two week trip where he only had fish, so I had to make a chicken dish before he started growing scales and gills. After the first successful attempt at making a hamin, I decided to try a summer recipe from Sherry Ansky’s Hamin cookbook.
This recipe just calls for chicken legs, israeli couscous, onions, and water, which sounded too bland for our taste, so I kicked it up a notch and added garlic, slices of butternut squash, Hungarian paprika, and ras el hanut. The dish was delicious and the sweetness of the butternut squash was a perfect addition. This dish can be made overnight or you can cook it for 4 hours and serve it on Friday night like I did. The best part of this dish is that you line the pan with parchment paper, so there is easy cleanup; no muss and no fuss.
Chicken Hamin with Israeli Couscous and Butternut Squash
Adapted from a recipe in Hamin by Sherry Ansky
Serves: 4-6
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 small butternut squash
1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
6 whole cloves garlic
2 rounded tablespoons Hungarian paprika
1 rounded tablespoon ras el hanut
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
500g (1lb) Israeli couscous (ptitim)
4 cups of water and another 1/2 cup
Preheat oven to 100C (200F) for overnight cooking or 150C (300F) for 4 hours cooking.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan that has a lid over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute until lightly brown. Add the whole garlic, paprika, ras el hanut, salt and pepper; stir for a couple of minutes. Add the Israeli couscous and lightly toast it, stirring constantly. Add the water, cover, and cook the couscous for 8 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.
Meanwhile, cut the butternut squash in half vertically, keeping the peel on, and seed it removing all of the stringy parts. Then, cut the squash horizontally into 6mm (1/4 inch) slices. Set aside.
Line a large clay pot, or other large roasting dish that has a cover, with parchment paper. Place half of the couscous mixture in the bottom of the pan, patting it down to make sure you have an even layer, and then add a layer of butternut squash slices. Add all of the chicken on top of the butternut squash, and then layer with rest of the butternut squash. Place the rest of the couscous mixture on top and add the remaining 1/2 cup of water. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the pan and cover tightly with the lid.
Place in the oven and cook overnight or for 4 hours at the higher temperature. Invert on a platter for presentation.
Follow me on Twitter 
I bought Sherry Ansky’s Hamin book during a recent trip to Israel and today I tried this exact recipe. I think next time I might add some extra spices, like you did, as it was a little bland, but the chicken was extremely moist and tender and all in all I would definitely try this again. It made a really nice change and I am looking forward to experimenting with the other chulents in the book, most of which are pretty exotic from where I’m sitting….,
It’s a beautiful book, by the way, and what a great concept.
[Translate]
Hi Miriam,
She does have some unusual recipes which convinced me to finally try making Hamin. I have tried two of the recipes and have been pleased with both of them. She was on Chaim Cohen’s “Garlic, Pepper and Olive Oil” cookery programme a year ago and cooked several different Hamin with Chaim at her house. She is so passionate about this dish, you couldn’t help but want to try one.
[Translate]
This sounds fantastic, with your additions of butternut squash, garlic and spice. I would think the squash would be more enjoyable the way you cooked it for 4 hours, and that it might disintegrate if left overnight (though the sauce would still be yummy).
[Translate]
Hi Faye,
It really was delicious. I think you are right about the squash disintegrating. I didn’t think about that. I would like to make another variation of it with artichoke hearts and baharat.
[Translate]