Ingredients
Bird or fish
- 1whole chicken, about 1.6 kg
- or 1 whole kutum or sea bass, about 1.5 kg, cleaned
Filling
- 300 gshelled walnuts
- 4onions, very finely chopped
- 150 gdried sour plum paste, or 100 g narsharab pomegranate syrup
- 1 tspturmeric
- 1/2 tspground black pepper
- 3 tbspbutter or oil
- salt
To rub outside
- 3 tbspbutter, melted
- 1 tspturmeric
- 1 tspsalt
- juice of 1 lemon
To serve
- plain rice
- narsharab, to pour over
- fresh herbs
Directions
- Taste one before you start: it should be sweet with only a slight bitterness. Grind them coarsely rather than to a powder. Some texture should remain in the finished filling.
- Chop the onions as finely as you possibly can. Warm the butter in a wide pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt. Cook them for twenty-five minutes, stirring often. They must collapse completely and turn deep gold.
- Tear it up and soak it in a little hot water for twenty minutes. Mash it into a smooth paste with a fork. Add the ground walnuts to the cooked onions. Cook them together for five minutes. Stir in the plum paste or narsharab. Add the turmeric, black pepper and salt.
- Cook it for another five minutes until it comes together. It should be a thick dark paste that holds its shape on a spoon. Taste it: it should be strongly sour and savoury. Let it cool before it goes into the bird or the fish.
- Warm filling in raw poultry is a food safety problem. Pat the chicken dry inside and out. Spoon the cooled filling into the cavity. Fill it generously but do not pack it hard.
- Mix the melted butter with the turmeric, salt and lemon juice. Rub it all over the chicken skin. Heat the oven to 190C in good time. Roast it for twenty minutes to colour the skin. Roast for another hour, basting every twenty minutes.
- Remove the foil for the last fifteen minutes. Check the thigh reads 75C on a thermometer. Check the stuffing at the centre reads the same. Rest it for twenty minutes before carving.
- Scale and gut the fish and rinse the cavity well. Cut off the gills, which turn bitter in cooking. Score the skin diagonally two or three times on each side. Rub the turmeric butter over the skin and into the scores. Spoon the cooled filling into the belly cavity. Lay the fish on a lined baking tray. Heat the oven to 190C in good time.
- Bake it for about thirty-five minutes for a fish of this size. The flesh should be opaque and should flake at the thickest part. Bring it whole to the table on a platter. Carve it and serve a spoonful of filling with each portion. Serve plain rice alongside rather than under it.
Technique
- Taste a walnut first, since rancid walnuts will ruin the whole filling.
- Cook the onions for a full twenty-five minutes; undercooked onion tastes harsh.
- Cool the filling completely before it goes into raw poultry.
Substitutions
- Narsharab pomegranate syrup in place of dried sour plum paste.
- Sea bass or trout in place of Caspian kutum.
Variations
- Made with fish, which is the Lankaran classic.
- With chestnuts added to the filling.
- Cooked as boneless rolled thighs, which is easier to serve.
History
Caspian speciality of Lankaran: chicken or kutum fish stuffed with walnuts, onion and sour plum paste.
Frequently asked questions
What is Lavangi?
Lavangi is a main from Azerbaijan: chicken or fish stuffed with walnut-onion-plum paste; southern Talysh specialty. Caspian speciality of Lankaran: chicken or kutum fish stuffed with walnuts, onion and sour plum paste.
How long does Lavangi take to make?
Lavangi takes 40 min of preparation and 1 hour 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Lavangi?
Yes, within limits. Narsharab pomegranate syrup in place of dried sour plum paste. Sea bass or trout in place of Caspian kutum.
What is the most important thing to get right in Lavangi?
Taste one before you start: it should be sweet with only a slight bitterness. Grind them coarsely rather than to a powder. Some texture should remain in the finished filling.
