Chicken Pulao Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Mix the saffron and 1 tablespoon hot water in a bowl; set aside to steep. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt; cook, stirring, until golden brown and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove to a small bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Season the chicken on both sides with the cumin and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Add to the Dutch oven and cook, turning once, until lightly browned on both sides, 6 to 8 minutes; remove to a plate.
• Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the pot along with the ginger and garlic and cook until toasted, about 30 seconds. Stir in the rice until well coated, then pour in the chicken broth, 1/2 cup water, the saffron with its liquid, ½ teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Bring to a simmer, then stir, lay the chicken on top and cover. Transfer the pot to the oven and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the rice has absorbed the liquid, about 15 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Add the peas to the rice; fluff with a fork. Season the yogurt with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Slice the chicken and serve with the rice. Drizzle with the yogurt and top with the shallots.

Steps:

• Place chicken pieces, onions and hot water in a large pot.
• Cover and simmer for about 1 hour.
• Add salt to taste.
• Remove chicken, reserving stock & discard cooked onions.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Heat 2 tbs of the butter over medium high heat and fry chicken pieces containing bones, salting as needed.
• Boil a large amount of water with sea salt and cook the rice in it for exactly 8 minutes. Set aside in a pot until ready to assemble.
• Make stock sauce:
• Brown onions in butter and remove from heat.
• Add cardamom cumin, freshly ground black pepper & saffron liquid and mash with onion to form a paste.
• Add about 1/2 pt of the chicken stock; simmer for 5 minutes and taste for seasoning.
• Combine cooked rice, stock sauce as needed (I don't find it became a sauce so I added the onion paste with some broth as needed to finish cooking the rice) and chicken; place in a buttered casserole. Cover.
• Fry carrot matchsticks in 1/2 tbs butter and add dark raisins to them at the very end.
• Sprinkle partially cooked carrot matchsticks and raisins on top of chicken and rice and cover tightly with aluminum foil or cover.
• Place in oven for 35 minutes.
• Chopped toasted pistachios or slivered almonds may be added over the dish just before serving if so wished.
• There most probably will be left over stock that is very good even as a soup on it's own and probably served that way in an Afghani household.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot. To this, add bay leaves, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon. Sauté until fragrant.
• Add cashews and sauté until light golden brown.
• Next, add onion slices, green chilies, curry leaves, salt and turmeric and fry on medium heat until onions turn golden brown.
• Add minced garlic and minced ginger. Fry until the raw smell goes off.
• Add chicken and mix well. Cover and cook on medium-low flame until chicken is almost cooked through.
• Then add cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, mint and cilantro. Mix well.
• Add water and mix well. Adjust the seasoning as needed. Once water is boiling, add soaked rice and gently stir to combine.
• Cook on high flame for 6 to 8 min. Then, cover and cook on low flame until all the water evaporates and the rice is cooked through, stirring gently.
• Serve hot with cucumber or onion raita.

Steps:

• Rinse the rice several times to help remove the starch. When the water starts to run clear, fill the container with cold water and 2 tsp salt until it is 2 inches about the level of the rice in the container. Set aside to soak.
• Remove the skin and extra fat from the chicken thighs and set the thighs aside. In a dutch oven, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Fry the skin and fat until the skin is crispy (about 5-8 minutes), turning several times. Place on paper towel to cool off. Set aside.
• In the same dutch oven on high heat, brown half of the chicken thighs until they are golden brown (6 minutes), turning once. Remove to paper towels to drain. Fry the other half of the chicken thighs. Remove to paper towel to drain.
• Lower heat to medium heat and stir fry the onions until they are opaque. Return all of the chicken to the dutch oven and add the tomatoes, parsnips and carrots. Cook until the tomatoes start breaking down (about 6 minutes).
• Stir in 3 cups water and 1 1/2 tsp salt, raise the heat to medium high heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 5 minutes.
• Drain the rice and add to the dutch oven. Bring to a boil, cover tightly and then lower heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Lower again to simmer and cook for 30 minutes. At this point the chicken and the rice should be done. Check to see if the rice is and if it is not, take the cover off and allow to simmer for 5 minutes more.
• Set the dutch oven aside covered while you take the yogurt and pour it onto a cheesecloth lined colander. Allow the yogurt to drain for 10 minutes. Once it has drained, pour into a mixing bowl. Mix in remaining yogurt sauce ingredients and serve alongside pulao.
• Remove chicken thighs from rice. Pile rice on a serving platter, top with chicken thighs and fried chicken skin pieces.

Steps:

• Wash the rice in several changes of cold running water until the water runs clear, then place in a bowl and soak for 30 minutes in more fresh cold water with 1⁄2 teaspoon salt.
• In a frying pan (skillet), heat the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the sliced onions to the pan and fry gently, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized. Using a slotted spoon, remove the onions from the oil, leaving as much of the oil in the pan as possible to cook the chicken, and place on a plate to drain. Spread the onions across the plate so they crisp as they cool.
• Keeping the heat on medium-high, add the chicken to the pan and sear it on all sides. Return half the caramelized onions to the pan.
• To make the spice bag, place the spices in a piece of cheesecloth or muslin and knot the corners securely together so the bag does not open during cooking process.
• Add the spice bag to the pan. Pour over enough cold water to cover the chicken and add 2 1⁄4 tsp salt. Bring the water to the boil, then lower the heat, cover with a lid and leave to cook for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, check the chicken to make sure it is not falling apart.
• Once the chicken is cooked, using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the chicken from the pan and place on a plate, trying to keep the meat on the bone.
• For the yakhni, you will need approximately twice the volume of stock to rice (so 4 cups of stock to 2 cups of rice). If you have more than 4 cups, reduce the stock. If you have less than 4 cups, add some water.
• Return the 4 cups of stock to the pan. Drain the rice and add to the pan, together with the chicken and green chiles, if using. Place the pan over a medium-high heat. Leaving the spice bag in the pan, bring the stock to the boil. Once boiling, lower the heat, cover with a lid, and leave to simmer. Check the pan often to see if the stock has been absorbed, but that the rice still retains some bite.
• At this point, remove the rice pan from the direct heat and reduce the heat to low. Place the rice pan on a tawa (flat iron griddle pan), or the closest thing you have to a tawa-an iron plate or a flat pan-to diffuse the heat. Leave the rice pan on the tawa over a low heat for 10 minutes. Alternatively, place the rice pan in a preheated low oven for 10 minutes.
• Once the pan has been removed from the heat source, cover the top of the pan with a dish towel and leave it undisturbed for 10 minutes.
• Check the rice-there should be no liquid at the edges of the pan-and gently run a fork through to lift and separate the grains. To serve, garnish with the remaining caramelized onions and sprigs of mint.