Rice and chicken chelo

This chelo is based on a Persian dish that would probably be made with ground lamb in Iran, but I used chicken for this version. There is a degree of difficulty in turning it out, but confidence is the best weapon.

It looks spectacular when unmoulded, its crisp layer of rice cradling fragrant chicken and another soft, steamy layer of rice underneath. The dish can be made ahead of time and reheated before unmoulding.

If you mess up the unmoulding, just heap it onto individual plates. You can also omit the unmoulding step if you cook the rice and filling separately and serve a scoop of rice with the filling spilling over it. If you do this, cook the filling another 15 minutes.

We used Thai rice with good results, but you could use any long-grain rice. Serve with a radish, olive and cucumber salad.