Chicken & Rice

Ingredients

500g basmatti rice

600g boneless chicken thighs OR 1kg of on the bone dark meat

1 white onion

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp harissa

2 tbsp tomato paste

4 dried red chillis

2 tbsp neutral oil (or ghee)

Sea Salt

Seasoning (meat)

1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds

Seasoning (rice)

1 tbsp adobo (sub garlic powder if you don't have)

1 tsp turmeric

2-3 tbsp oil or ghee

Add ins (optional)

10g coriander leaf (cilantro), chopped

10g fresh mint, chopped

50g sliced almonds

50 shelled and chopped pistachios

juice half lime

I've been making this for years now. (I should probably come up with a more creative name) It's pretty simple to do and has gone down well with a variety of audiences.

This is my feeding the 5,000 trick - it'll make like 10 servings for £5-10 worth of ingredients (assuming you have the seasonings and so on). It's essentially a stripped-down biryani - if you're familiar with that, this will be super easy. You'll need a large, deep pan with a lid. I just used my 5L pot, but I've done it in a few things.

This is more of a 'ballpark' recipe - if you don't have exactly these ingrediants you can improvise and make substitutions. Should reheat reasonably well, so if you make a big batch it can be meals for a few days if you don't mind the same thing.

Despite having a fair amount of chilli in it, this isn't hot at all - rice and chicken soak up seasoning, you need to overdo it just to stop it being bland.

Serving suggestion: salad, greek yoghurt, hot sauce or chutney.

Grind the meat seasoning mix in a pestle and motor, toss the chicken with it and some oil and 1% sea salt by weight.
If using boneless thighs sear them off in the bottom of a large pan. Take out and roughly chop. If using larger bone in pieces, roast them off in the over for 25-30 minutes, or until just cooked through.
Add chopped onion to the pan, cook for a few minutes, add garlic, ginger, harissa, tomato paste, chillis and a pinch of (1 tsp) more salt and cook for a couple more minutes. Return chicken to the pan with a cup or so of boiling water and mix everything. The liquid should almost but not quite cover the meat.
Wash rice by running water over, draining, and repeating until it runs clear. Pour over 3 times its volume in boiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes until doubled in size, but not quite cooked. (like a degree short of al dente)
Drain rice, in a large bowl, stir in the rice seasoning and 1 tbsp of salt. Pour this onto the meat, aiming to create a pile of rice on top (not against the sides of the pan) with the end of a wooden spoon push some holes in the deepest part of the rice.
Cover the pan and cook on a high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce to a low and cook for a further 15. Take off the heat and rest for 5-10. Don't open the lid at any point during this.
Open. The liquid should have mostly evaporated/ been absorbed. Toss the rice together with the meat and the add ins (if using). Taste. You might want a bit more salt and adobo.