Hakkâri-Style Pot-Roasted Chicken & Onions
Hakkâri Usulü SoĞanlı Tavuk Güveç
This dish couldn’t be simpler: a whole roast chicken resting on a bed of sweet caramelized onions, all infused with the heady scent of fresh thyme. This recipe was given to me by Şehmur Kurt, owner of a bread bakery in Hakkâri. His wife cooks it for staff meal in his shop’s wood-fired oven. It is traditionally made in a güveç, or clay pot. I use an enameled cast-iron pot. Be sure that your pot is just large enough to hold the chicken—if it is too large, the bird will steam instead of roast, and you’ll miss out on lovely caramelized onions at the bottom of the pot.
Black pepper is liberally used in this part of Turkey; add extra to the onions if you like. Do not cut back on the amount of onions (and thyme) in this dish. They flavor the chicken as it cooks, and you’ll be glad for the delicious leftovers bathed in olive oil and chicken fat. I toss them with pasta, spoon them over garlic-rubbed toast, cook them with eggs for a sort of frittata, or add them to grilled cheese sandwiches. The unbrowned ones that are cooked inside the chicken make an excellent base for soup or bulgur pilaf.
Serve this with bulgur pilaf—plain or seasoned with curry powder—and sautéed spinach or other leafy greens.
Preparation time: 1¾ to 2 hours
Serves 4 to 6
- 5 or 6 medium-large white onions (1½ to 1¾ pounds), cut in half top to bottom and sliced top to bottom as thin as possible (about 8 cups)
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 chicken (3½ to 4½ pounds), rinsed inside and out and patted dry
- A large handful (about 30 single stems or 10 to 15 branches) of fresh thyme sprigs
1. Place a rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Choose a Dutch oven or other heavy lidded pot just large enough to accommodate the chicken.
2. Put the onions in a large bowl, using your fingers to separate the slices. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the salt over the onions and squeeze and scrunch them until they begin to soften, about 30 seconds. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, sprinkle with the pepper, and toss.
3. Rub the chicken skin with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Put a handful (about ½ cup) of the onions inside the chicken (do not pack them in). Add the thyme, bending the sprigs if necessary. Follow with another handful of onions, or as much as will fit comfortably in the cavity without packing.
4. Spread all but a handful of the remaining onions over the bottom of the pot. Place the chicken on them, breast side up, and spread the rest of the onions over it.
5. Pour enough water to not quite cover the onions in the bottom of the pot, about ¼ cup. Cover the pot, place it in the oven, and cook for 1¼ hours.
6. Check the pot: The onions should be light golden to dark and caramelized, the chicken should be cooked through (use the tip of a knife to test a leg joint; the juices should run clear) and browned in some spots, and there should be almost no liquid—other than the oil—left in the bottom of the pot. If the chicken and onions are not appetizingly colored, uncover the pot, and return the chicken to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes. If the chicken is browned but there is watery liquid at the bottom of the pan, place it on top of the stove, remove the lid, and cook it over medium heat for several minutes to cook the liquid off.
7. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes before serving.