Servings : Serves 4-5
Quick, easy and yummy chicken pilau.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken, skin removed and divided into 8-10 pieces (1 to 1.5kg)
- 500 gm basmati rice, washed 2-3 times then soaked for half an hour.
- 3 onions, chopped
- 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into 4 pieces each
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin/coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground roasted cumin powder
- 3 tbsp butter
- 5 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic paste
- some chopped coriander
Whole Spices
- 1 tbsp whole cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp whole pepper
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 cloves
- 2 cardamom
Instructions
Put the chicken pieces in a deep pan, add 1 tsp ginger paste, 1 tsp garlic paste, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper powder and 4 cups of water. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Drain out the chicken and reserve the broth/yakhni for the pilau. The chicken will cook some more in the pilau so don’t be tempted to cook it any longer than 15 minutes on low heat, otherwise it will end up being tough and stringy. In the meantime, wash and then soak your rice for about 30 minutes.
I normally use 1 and a quarter cups of yakhni/soup for every cup of rice when making pilau. Measure the broth accordingly and adjust by adding water if needed. If the rice you normally use requires more water per cup of rice, adjust accordingly.
Place a pan on the stove. Remember that the rice will double after cooking and the chicken and potatoes will go in there too so you will need to have enough space in the pan. Turn on the heat and once the pan is hot, add the oil and butter.
Then add the whole spices; cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, cloves.
Once they splutter in the oil, add your chopped onions. Fry them until they are translucent and slightly golden, stirring with a wooden spoon. Then add the potatoes followed by the turmeric and cumin/coriander powder.
Let these fry for a few minutes, then add the garlic paste and a bit of chopped coriander.
The aroma should by now be brilliant. Add in the boiled chicken and stir everything together for a few minutes so that the chicken gets coated with all the spices, then add the measured stock/soup/yakhni and some salt. Let the stock simmer and taste for the salt. You should be able to feel the saltiness. If it feels just right, it means you have too little. Remember that the rice will need some salt too once it goes in there, so let it be a tiny bit saltier than you would want. Not too much of course!
When the water/broth starts boiling, drain your rice (which should have been pre-soaked for about half an hour) and add this rice to the stock. Sprinkle a bit of coriander on this, and stir a little. Let this cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes then reduce the heat to medium and keep cooking it whilst covered until the water diminishes, giving it a stir every now and then to make sure all the rice is cooked evenly and perfectly.
Once you find there is very little water left in the rice, reduce the heat to the lowest point possible. Seal your pan by using a tight lid or wetting a kitchen towel and placing it over the pan then placing a lid on top of it.
Leave the rice to continue steaming on very low heat for a good 10 mins. Switch off, and serve! 🙂
Enjoy! 🙂
Okay thankyou i will
Okay thankyou i will definetly try these different ways, inshallah they will help me!
awww i tried 2day …it was
awww i tried 2day …it was gr8 experience but i dnt knw how my salt becomes less in taste however i checked it after adding the salt portion for rice
Hi,
Hi,
What do you mean by the freshly ground roasted cumin powder? Is it sold roasted or am I supposed to put some cumin powder on a frying pan first? I couldn’t figure it out.
Saum Maqbul 🙂
Hi, it means not the ready
Hi, it means not the ready made packed ground cumin powder. I just place some cumin on a pan and warm it up slightly until aromatic, then grind to a powder and store in a jar to use as needed. 🙂
Salam. I want to try this
Salam. I want to try this recipe but I want it to be a bit spicy. Is is going to be spicy? Or can u tell me what changes I can make to have spicier?
W/Salaam, you can add chopped
W/Salaam, you can add chopped green chillies..as much as you need. I normally make this dish mild but serve it with a chutney or green chillies.
Thanks for the reply going to
Thanks for the reply going to make it for my family tomorrow as a surprise. Is it ok to add yogurt when adding chicken to the onions?
For this recipe it is not
For this recipe it is not necessary.
Does anyone know 1 cup= hw
Does anyone know 1 cup= hw many ml?? Pls reply asap
200 ml.
200 ml.
I’m making it on electric
I’m making it on electric stove and after 15 mins on low heat for yakhni the chicken is still red.. How do i know its done??
The chicken should turn white
The chicken should turn white after boiling and it should be slightly tender.
Assalamalaikum. Hope your are
Assalamalaikum. Hope your are doing well. Just a quick question. you’ve mentioned cumin/coriander powder in your list of ingredients. Do you mix these powders together and add or add either one of them? Thankyou in advance.
W/Salaam, yes I like to roast
W/Salaam, yes I like to roast, grind and mix the two then store the mixture for some dishes.
Salaam Fauzia, I am trying
Salaam Fauzia, I am trying this i a few hours, please could you tell me if its 1 cup cooked rice we measure to or one cup uncooked rice? Thank you
W/Salaam, this recipe
W/Salaam, this recipe requires 500g uncooked rice as mentioned in the ingredients list.
Turned out so yummy ! Allah bless you