chicken with sweet onion sauce (Kammama)

Ingredients for 2 chickens weighing about 3 lbs each :

* 4 kg (9 Ibs) of onions * 1 kg (2 lbs 3 oz) of tomatoes (optional)

* 1 heaped teaspoonful of pepper * 1 coffeespoonful of saffron (mixed packet saffron and crushed saffron flowers)

* 250 g (9 oz) of butter * 4 to 5 rounded soupspoonfuls of sugar

* 1 rounded soupspoonful of cinnamon * 1 stick of cinnamon * salt

Preparation: 

Cut the chickens in pieces. Put them in a thick-bottomed saucepan with the offal. Add salt, saffron, pepper, butter, the stick of cinnamon and one sliced onion and a glassful of water. Boil for a few minutes over a moderate heat and mix the spices well. Add the Onions, cut in rings 1 cm (1/2) thick, and the tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut in half. After a few minutes boiling,

remove the chicken pieces and put them in an oven-proof dish. Immediately add the sugar and cinnamon to the sauce. Mix well and put the onions and tomatoes on top of the chicken with the sauce poured over the top. Cook in the oven, basting often.

When cooked, pour the sauce into a saucepan and boil it down until it becomes thick and syrupy. When the chickens are cooked and the onions gold and caramelized on top, remove from the oven, Arrange on a dish with the onions on top of the chicken pieces and pour the sauce over. Serve at once.