Chicken Pilau (Pulao)
This is a family-friendly weeknight favourite! Chicken Pilau is a one-pot aromatic & gently spiced basmati rice dish. Before You StartGet the ghee out of the fridge if you have it there - it's far easier to use when soft.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Large shallow oven-proof casserole pan with a heavy well-fitting lid 28-30cm (11-12 inches) diameter
- Mini food processor or pestle & mortar/spice grinder
- Spice bag/tea infuser
- Microplane (optional) – handy for grating frozen ginger (note)
Ingredients
- 400 g basmati rice
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- Teaspoon black peppercorns
- Tablespoon coriander seeds
- 750 g chicken thighs (skinless/boneless)
- ½ whole nutmeg
- 30 g fresh ginger (a thumb-sized amount)
- 10 whole cardamom pods
- 10 whole cloves
- 75 g ghee
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 400 g canned whole peeled tomatoes
- Teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 ½ teaspoons salt
- couple of sprigs curry leaves
- large handful coriander leaves
Instructions
- Preheat Oven – to 180°C.
- Wash & Drain Rice - gently wash the rice in several changes of fresh cool water (from the tap is fine) and drain.400 g basmati rice
- Prepare Spice Mix - preheat the pan (no oil necessary) over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and toast briefly until the seeds smell fragrant and start to brown. Shake the pan often to make sure they don’t burn. Tip out into your food processor or spice grinder. Repeat the process with the peppercorns and coriander seeds (together is fine). These are a little bit larger, so will take a touch longer. Grate the nutmeg and add this to the toasted whole spices. Whizz up to a fine powder.2 teaspoons cumin seedsTeaspoon black peppercornsTablespoon coriander seeds½ whole nutmeg
- Chop Chicken - trim away excess fat from the chicken thighs and cut the meat into bite-size pieces.750 g chicken thighs
- Ginger - Finely grate or very finely chop the ginger.30 g fresh ginger
- Cardamom & Cloves - split open the cardamom pods. Roll over them with a glass or rolling pin, or bang down on the flat of a large knife blade. Put these in a small spice bag/tea infuser with the whole cloves.10 whole cardamom pods10 whole cloves
- Ghee, Bay Leaves & Cinnamon - melt the ghee in the pan over medium heat. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon sticks. Cook, stirring frequently for a couple of minutes until sizzling a little.75 g ghee2 bay leaves2 cinnamon sticks
- Ground Spice & Ginger Paste - reduce the heat slightly and add the spice mix. Stir often for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the ginger, stir through well. Be careful; this will hiss and spit.
- Colour Chicken - increase the heat to max again and stir in the chicken pieces. Cook for around 5 minutes. Stir often until lightly coloured all over. We're not aiming to cook it all the way through in this step.
- Prepare Liquid – in a large bowl, crush the canned tomatoes by hand. Squeeze them one at a time, slowly and under the surface of the water. Measure out 550ml/g of water (from the tap is fine). Use some of the water to swill out and rinse the tomato can. Add this to the crushed tomatoes with the rest of the water.400 g canned whole peeled tomatoes
- Add Liquid - add the tomatoey liquid to the pot. Add the turmeric and salt. Bring the contents to a simmer. Use a flat-ended wooden spatula to deglaze the pan. Stir everything well together. We don't want to stir too much once we add the rice in the next step.Teaspoon ground turmeric2 ½ teaspoons salt
- Rice – shake in the rice and use the handle of an item of cutlery to rake through and distribute the rice evenly. Gently push in the spice bag/tea infuser in the centre and place the curry leaf sprigs on top. Bring to a simmer so that the whole surface is gently moving. Cover the top with a sheet of foil and put the lid on.couple of sprigs curry leaves
- Bake - promptly transfer to the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
- Rest - remove the pan from the oven (but don’t lift lid!). Leave to rest for 15 minutes. (or up to 45 minutes).
- Serve - remove and discard the spice bag, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and curry leaves. Fluff up the rice grains with a fork; rake a fork through, a few layers of rice at a time. You can either serve straight from the pan or tip out onto a platter. Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander.large handful coriander leaves
Notes
Top tip
Grate frozen ginger with a microplane, rather than finely chop. Buy ginger fresh and peel off the skin with the edge of a spoon. Cut into chunks and freeze in a well-sealed container or ziplock bag. Ginger is so expensive; you’ll kick yourself for allowing it to got dry and wrinkly in your pantry. Grating frozen ginger gives you wonderful ginger flavour without the ginger chunks. Make sure you use the ginger straight from the freezer; it defrosts quickly (and becomes more difficult to grate).
Reheat
The pilau is best enjoyed freshly made, when the grains of rice are at their softest and fluffiest. However, leftovers reheat quite well. Whichever method you use, spread the pilau to a thinnish layer on a large plate, sprinkle with a little water and cover well.
Microwave - for a few minutes.
Oven - reheat, covered in foil, at 120°C, for around 45 minutes until steaming hot.