• 1 chicken, about 1.5 kg, jointed
• 1 stick celery with leaves, rinsed, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Some sprigs fresh basil, or 0.5 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 small onion, finely sliced
• juice of 2 lemons
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 300 ml hot water

Rinse and dry the chicken pieces. Put the olive oil in a wide saucepan and, when fairly hot but not brown, season the chicken pieces and sautee them gently on both sides. They should not get brown. Remove them to a plate. Put the onion in the same saucepan and sautee until it becomes transparent. Add all the vegetables and the basil and sautee for a few more minutes, until they are all coated in oil. Add the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables and pour the lemon juice all over. It is best to start with one lemon and adjust to taste before you add any more. When the steam from the lemon has subsided add the water and more seasoning, then cover and cook slowly for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Served with plain white hilopittes, a kind of sinall, flat, square noodles (quite often homemade in Greece), boiled separately, it is absolutely delicious, but is equally good with plain white rice. In either case, serve the chicken and vegetables on top of the pasta or rice and coat with the delicious thick sauce.