Easy Chicken Pilau Recipe
This Easy Chicken Pilau Recipe or Chicken Pulao / Pilaf is an incredibly delicious one-pot chicken and rice dish that is wonderfully fragrant and comforting. The rice is aromatic and fluffy, with perfectly separated grains, and the chicken is beautifully spiced and juicy. A great weeknight dinner that goes down well with the whole family.
Servings: 3 people
Calories: 611kcal
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
- 270 g basmati rice ( 1 ⅓ cup)
- 500 ml chicken stock (broth, 2 cups)
- 1 large red onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon ginger puree
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 5 cardamom pods 1
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Start by rinsing the rice under cold water until the water runs clear, and leave the rice to soak covered in plenty of water.
- Set a frying pan over a medium heat.
- Add the cumin seeds, whole cloves, cardamom pods, coriander seeds, star anise and cinnamon stick and toast them for 1 minute.
- Once they are toasted, add them to a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and grind them into a powder.
- In a large pot, add the oil and heat it up over a medium heat.
- Add the chicken chunks, season them with salt and pepper, and fry them on both sides until cooked through.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Peel and chop the onion julienne, and fry it in the same pan that the chicken was cooked until it starts to caramelise.
- Add the ginger puree and peeled and chopped garlic, and fry them for 30 seconds.
- Add the ground spices, chilli powder, tomato puree and bay leaves, and mix well.
- Return the chicken to the pan, add the soaked rice and give it a good stir.
- Cover the rice with the chicken stock, and place a lid on the pan.
- Cook it until all the liquid is evaporated.
- Remove the pan from the heat, but keep the lid on for 10 minutes.
- After the 10 minutes, use a fork to fluffy the rice up.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Toasting the spices helps release fantastic flavours, that's a step I highly recommend, it will make all the difference.
- It is crucial to respect the rice to liquid ratio if you want to get perfectly fluffy rice with separated grains.
- Too much liquid, and the rice will become mushy by the time the liquid is absorbed. To little, and the rice won't be cooked well.
Nutrition
Calories: 611kcal | Carbohydrates: 88g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 1269mg | Potassium: 1054mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 467IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 3mg