1. Clean and wipe the chicken with a clean towel

2. Put the chicken in a pot with cold water

3. Add one onion, the bouquet garni, the sprigs of parsley and the salt

4. Let the chicken simmer gently for 2 and 1/2hours

5. When the chicken is tender, remove it from the stock and cut the meat from the bones in large pieces

6. Return the bones to the pot, add a cup of water and continue cooking

7. Put a saucepan on the stove and add 2tablespoons of olive oil

8. Add the celery stalks and the 2 remaining onions

9. Fry the vegetables until they are transparent

10. Remove the vegetables (the celery and onions) from the pan and reserve them

11. Add the remaining 2tablespoons of olive oil to the pan

12. Stir in the cups of raw rice and continue stirring until the rice is gilded

13. Strain the chicken from the chicken broth and skim off the fat (there should be about 4cups of broth)

14. Add 3cups of broth to the rice

15. Steep 1/2 a teaspoon of saffron in the remaining cup of broth and add it to the rice

16. Add salt and pepper to taste

17. Cook the rice over low heat for 10 minutes

18. Transfer the partly cooked rice to a casserole dish

19. Add the chicken meat, raisins , almonds, the celery and the onions to the casserole

20. Place the casserole dish in the oven and bake it in a moderately low heat of 325F (160C) until the rice is tender (add a little water if it becomes too dry)

21. Serve with a tossed green salad

List of ingredients required:

1 Chicken (about 5 lb)
3 thinly sliced onions
A bouquet garni
2 sprigs of parsley
1 sprig of thyme
Salt and pepper
Water
4 stalks celery
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups raw rice
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 cup raisins
1 cup blanched and slivered almonds