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1
In a pan large enough to contain the chicken, fry the onion in the oil until soft.
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2
Put in the chicken, and pour in 4 1/2 cups of water (it will not cover the chicken entirely).
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3
Add garlic, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger if you like, salt, and pepper.
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4
Simmer for 11 1/2 hours with the lid on, until the chicken is so tender the meat falls off the bone, turning the chicken over once halfway through.
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5
Take out the chicken, and when it is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones.
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6
Bring the sauce to the boil, add the lemon juice, and throw in the pasta.
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7
Cook for 810 minutes, or until tender, adding boiling waterabout 1 cupif necessary, and more salt and pepper.
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8
Stir in the butter and put the chicken pieces back into the pan, over the pasta.
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9
Heat through before serving.
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10
The pasta becomes soft rather than al dente.
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11
Dry vermicelli (shaghria in Arabic), crushed into 1-inch pieces with your hands, can be used instead of the orzo.
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12
They will need less cooking timeabout 56 minutes.
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13
For the apricot sauce to accompany, simmer 1/2 pound tart, unsweetened dried apricots in water until soft.
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14
Add the juice of 1/2 lemon if you prefer a sharper taste.
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15
When the apricots are soft, crush them with a fork and continue to simmer until reduced to a soft puree, or puree to a cream with the liquid in a food processor.
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16
Serve hot or cold in a separate bowl.
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17
In Morocco, they boil a chicken, lift it out of the broth, and cut it up, then cook broken vermicelli in the broth.
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18
They serve the chicken covered and concealed by the vermicelli and garnished with sprinklings of ground cinnamon in a pattern of lines.
