Toyuq ləvəngi - Roast chicken with walnut and onion stuffing

This is a popular dish in Azerbaijan. It is easy to make. Today I am going to try a variation on how I have done it in the past. Usually I finely chop and sauté the onions, dry roast the walnuts and grind them, then mix all of the stuffing ingredients together. Today I will try another method.

4 medium onions roughly chopped - grind with a handheld mixer. Place the ground onions in a cheesecloth or handkerchief and squeeze out the liquid.


In a blender or with a mixing tool, combine:


150 g walnuts, ground
1/2 sheet (lavash) of dried pomegranate - like a fruit roll + a bit of boiling water
a few tablespoons of golden raisins
salt
pepper

Stir together the onions, walnut mixture and a handful of whole raisins. (I like to quickly fry the raisins until they puff up.) This is the stuffing. I sometimes add a few other ingredients to the mix - today it will be some chopped fresh dill and a few red chilli pepper flakes. Not traditional but I like it! If the chicken is small you may have too much stuffing. Put the remainder in an ovenproof dish and bake alongside the chicken.

A picture of the mise en place:

Stuff the chicken and then roast. This is the stuffing:

A picture of the end result: