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B’stilla is a Moroccan dish traditionally made with pigeon or squab, but can also be made with chicken, lamb, rabbit, or vegetarian substitutes. It is a savory pie with sweet and savory spices encased in layers of puff pastry. The recipe involves frying onions and garlic, adding chicken and spices, reducing the broth, adding eggs, and layering the chicken mixture with sugared almonds in phyllo dough before baking.
B’stilla is a classic Moroccan dish, traditionally made with pigeon or squab, although many European and American cooks use chicken instead. The poultry is seasoned with both sweet and savory spices and encased in layers of puff pastry before cooking. The result is a savory pie with a hint of complex sweetness, traditionally served as part of a main meal. Enterprising cooks may choose to make their own B’stillas, but because there is process involved, many prefer to make a big cake.
For cooks planning a Moroccan dinner, B’stilla is an excellent dish to include. It can also be made with lamb or rabbit, or with vegetarian ingredients to accommodate dietary requirements. When using vegetarian meat substitutes for B’stilla, the best choice is probably seitan, as it can be boiled down to a chicken-like texture. Each cook also has a slightly different recipe for B’stilla and it may take several attempts to achieve recipe perfection.
To make B’stilla, start by frying one onion and several finely chopped garlic cloves in vegetable oil. As the onions begin to soften, add a quarter cup each of the chopped parsley and cilantro, a teaspoon each of the turmeric and ginger, and several strands of saffron. Add two pounds (about one kilogram) of boneless, skinless chicken or three pounds (one and a half kilograms) of bone-in chicken. Cover the mixture in three cups of chicken broth, bring it to a boil and simmer for twenty minutes with the lid on.
When the chicken is cooked through, remove it to a separate dish to cool and stir four beaten eggs into the broth, simmering the broth so it reduces as you cut into the chicken. After the volume of the broth has reduced by about half, add the grated chicken again and simmer until dry. Remove the mixture from the heat and set aside.
Next, toast a half cup of almonds, either in oil or in a dry roasting pan. Lightly grind the almonds so that they become coarse and mix two teaspoons of cinnamon, along with a tablespoon of sugar. Add more sugar if you want a slightly sweeter B’stilla.
Some cooks prefer to prepare these parts of the B’stilla the day before, keeping them in the refrigerator. In this case, when these ingredients are placed in the refrigerator, take a packet of phyllo dough out of the freezer and place it in the refrigerator as well, so that it thaws in the refrigerator overnight. If you’re assembling the entire B’stilla in one day, remember to put the phyllo dough in the fridge the night before. Either way, take the phyllo dough out about 10 minutes before you want to work with it.
With the phyllo dough thawed on the counter, melt 1/2 cup of the butter in a heavy saucepan. Use the butter to oil a large cake pan and arrange a sheet of phyllo dough on the plate. Brush the dough with butter after it goes into the pan and be sure to brush any overhanging dough as well before adding another sheet and doing the same. After layering six to seven sheets, pour in the chicken mixture, spread it out evenly, and sprinkle on the sugared almonds. Next, fold the dough into cantilevers and roll out a few more sheets on top, buttering. After six or seven sheets have been layered on top, brush the top with eggs for a glossy finish, and also sprinkle cinnamon and powdered sugar on top, if desired. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (204 degrees Celsius) for about 30 minutes, until the B’stilla is golden brown. Allow the chicken pot pie to cool before serving, usually straight from the pan.
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