This is my family’s absolute favourite chicken and rice dish. It is a marvellous one pan casserole of fragrantly spiced basmati rice with delicious braised chicken pieces, lots of fragrant herbs and a lovely minted yoghurt sauce. Inspired by a dish from Ottolenghi’s wonderful cookbook Jersusalem, your family will love it too.
You will need to start this recipe the day before to soak the rice. Soaking makes all grains more digestible as it breaks down some of the more problematic proteins and neutralises phytates, which inhibit the absorption of important nutrients including magnesium, calcium and iron. If you don’t have time to soak the rice overnight just soak it while you prepare and cook all of the other ingredients.
Fragrant Spiced Chicken with Cardamom Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar , or lemon juice
- 1 & 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 kg organic chicken pieces , any combination of thighs, drumsticks or wings
- 4 tbsp butter ,or olive oil
- 2 large brown onions , thinly sliced
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 & 1/2 tbsp currants
- 1 & 1/2 cups chicken bone broth , or stock or water
- 2 cups fresh mint, dill, parsley and/or coriander leaves , any combination of these herbs, roughly chopped
Minted Yoghurt:
- 1/2 cup thick natural yoghurt
- 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves , finely chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- The day before cooking this recipe rinse the basmati rice and then cover with 2 cups of warm water. Stir in the apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, cover and set aside at room temperature overnight. If you do not have time to soak the rice overnight just soak it for an hour or while you are preparing and cooking the other ingredients.
- The next day mix together the ground cardamom, ground allspice, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Toss the chicken pieces through this spice mix.
- Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large casserole dish and cook the chicken over a low-medium heat until lightly browned, for about 5-10 minutes per side. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and set aside.
- Melt the remaining 2 tbsp butter in the same casserole dish over a low heat. Add the onions and 1 tsp salt, cover and cook gently, while stirring occasionally, until the onions are caramelised and golden brown. This will take approximately 10-15 minutes.
- Stir the drained rice, cinnamon sticks, currants and bone broth into the onions. Return the chicken pieces to the dish, pushing them into the rice. Cover the pan with a lid and cook over a low heat for 30 minutes.
- While the chicken and rice are cooking make the minted yoghurt by stirring all the ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Check that all of the broth has been absorbed and taste for salt and pepper. Stir through all of the herbs and fluff up the rice with a fork.
- Serve the chicken and rice with the minted yoghurt and a green salad.
