Middle Eastern rice and chicken

Middle Eastern rice and chicken

We love Middle Eastern rice- chicken dishes. They are so flavoursome yet mild enough for any child. With a little bit of planning, you can make this rice effortlessly. Plan for leftovers because that tastes even better!!! 

Clean, cut the chicken. Powder the whole spices in a coffee grinder. Mix the dry spices and rub onto chicken pieces. Marinate for half an hour to overnight in fridge. Soak the rice in plenty of water for at least one hour. Slice and chop onion. Pulse the tomatoes with green chillies in a food processor. 

Heat oil in a wok and deep-fry the onion to golden brown and set aside. Quickly brown the chicken in the same oil and remove. To the same wok, add chopped onion and sauté. Remove. Take the wok off heat. Add half of the soaked rice to the oil in the hot wok and combine.

Combine tomatoes-yoghurt-water-sautéed onion and turmeric in a pot. Season to taste. Put in the chicken. Top with the uncooked soaked rice with oil in the wok. Add half of the fried onion. Bring a soup pot of salted water to boil. Add the remaining half of the soaked rice to the water and cook for about 10 minutes or till the rice is almost cooked through. Drain and add the steaming rice on top of the already layered rice and chicken. Top with the remaining fried onion and cover the pot with a tight fitting lid. Start cooking over medium high flame. After 5 minutes, you will see steam coming out. Then take the pot away and keep a cast iron skillet on stove-top. Place the rice pot on top of the skillet to prevent scorching. Cook for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and check if all water is absorbed. You can do this with a skewer. Just like how you test doneness of cake, insert the skewer till the bottom to see if there is water. Once rice is done, take off heat. Let cool for 10-15 minutes. Invert to a big platter for hopefully the perfect rice-chicken cake.  Serve with any fresh greens-cucumber salad!!!