OVERVIEW
I love food with a flavourful Middle Eastern slant. Not necessarily super-spicy, just great ingredients and a lot of flavour. This is a typical dish – simple but delicious. Any leftover hummus can be stored in a fridge for up to 3 days.
MAKE THE DOUGH
Tip the flour onto a clean work surface and make a well in the centre. Mix the tepid water with the olive oil, crumble in the yeast, mix until dissolved then pour a third of the liquid into your flour well. Use your fingertips to slowly bring the flour in from the sides until the centre reaches the consistency of porridge, then add a bit more liquid, continuing to draw in the flour until all the oily, yeasty water is used up.
Sprinkle over the salt then use both hands to push the remaining flour into the middle. Fold and press until everything is absorbed and a dough comes together, then work the gluten until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Leave for 10 minutes, covered with a damp cloth, then divide into 6-8 individual balls. Place on a tray, cover and leave at room temperature for approximately 6 hours until the balls expand to almost double their size, then store in the fridge overnight.
MARINATE YOUR CHICKEN
At least 2 hours before you cook, and ideally overnight, marinate the chicken in the yoghurt, garlic, ras el hanout, lime juice, saffron water, chopped coriander and a good pinch of salt.
MAKE YOUR HUMMUS
Blend the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, oil, cumin and a few pinches of salt in your food processor with 150ml cold water. Check the seasoning, sharpness and consistency. You may want to add a little more salt, lemon juice or spice, or a little more water if the texture is too thick. Store in the fridge until needed, then sprinkle on some paprika, dukkah or sumac before serving.
SET UP YOUR EGG
Remove the dough from the fridge 1-2 hours before you plan to use it. Set up your EGG for direct cooking with the Cast Iron Searing Grid in place. Your target temperature is 200°C.
Place the chicken pieces on the grid, shaking off any excess marinade as you remove them from their dish. Cook for around 5 minutes, until the marinade on the bottom is starting crusting up and starting to char along the grid lines. Turn and cook for 5 minutes on the other side. Don’t turn the chicken any more than you need to and use a spatula instead of tongs so that you scrape underneath as you lift it.
You’re looking for the meat to reach an internal temperature of 72°C before removing it from the EGG to rest.
COOK YOUR FLATBREADS
While the chicken is cooking, dust a work surface with flour and roll out your flatbreads to your preferred thickness.
Once the chicken is resting, you need the grid to be as clean as possible to prevent the breads from sticking, so scrape off as much of the burnt-on marinade as you can. Drop some flatbreads onto the grid, but don’t overcrowd the space – they don’t need to be steaming hot when served, so it’s fine to cook them in batches. As each bread starts puffing up and taking on colour, turn it to cook the other side.
To serve, spread your hummus on the bread, place some chicken on the hummus, then garnish with the coriander sprigs and preserved lemon.
