Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs
• skin and bones removed
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 200g/7oz basmati rice
• 400ml/14fl oz chicken stock
• 75g/2½oz butter
• freshly ground black pepper
• 5 filo pastry sheets

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
• Remove the skin and bones from the chicken thighs and roughly chop.
• Warm the olive oil in a large pan. Add the chicken and spices and cook on a low heat for three minutes
• taking care that the spices do not burn.
• Add the rice and the stock to the same pan. Bring to the boil
• then reduce the heat to a simmer. Replace the pan lid and allow to cook for 10 minutes.
• Melt the butter and season generously with pepper.
• Lay a sheet of filo pastry on a large baking tray and brush generously with the peppery butter. Lay a second
• third and fourth sheet of filo
• brushing each one with more butter as you go.
• When the 10 minutes of rice cooking has elapsed
• evenly spread the chicken and rice mixture on one half of the filo rectangle.
• Brush around the edges of the mixture with more butter and then fold the empty filo side over the mixture like a book and press down the edges.
• Take the remaining filo sheet
• soak it in the butter
• crumple and place on top of the parcel as decoration.
• Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.