Chicken pilau
The spiced, deep-brown chicken and rice of the Kenyan and Tanzanian coast, fragrant with cumin, cinnamon and slowly browned onions.
- 65 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.04 a serving
- 650 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups basmati rice
- 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1½ tsp garam masala
- 1½ lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 russet potato, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2½ cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
Each serving has about 650 calories, 42 g protein, 76 g carbs and 18 g fat, and costs about $3.04 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No basmati rice? Jasmine rice or long-grain white rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No tomatoes? Roma tomatoes work.
- No russet potatoes? Yukon Gold potatoes work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice until the water runs clear, then leave it to soak in cold water.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Heat the oil in a or large pot over medium. Add the onions and cook 12 to 15 minutes, often, until deep .
Dutch oven. A Dutch oven is a heavy pot, usually enameled cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid. It holds heat evenly, so it’s great for soups, stews and anything that simmers a long time.
How you’ll know: Any large, heavy pot with a lid does the same job if you don’t have one.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium heatTimer: 13 min
Dolly’s tip: The deep brown onions give pilau its color. Stir more often as they darken so they don’t burn.in the garlic and ginger for 1 minute, then the cumin, garam masala, cinnamon and pepper for 30 seconds, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min 30 sec
Add the chicken and 1 teaspoon of salt and cook 5 minutes, , until it’s no longer pink on the outside.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Add the tomato and potato and cook 3 minutes, until the tomato .
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
the rice and it in for 1 minute, until coated in the spices.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Pour in the broth and remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low and cook 20 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: No peeking. The steam under the lid is cooking the rice.Take it off the heat and leave it covered 10 minutes. Fluff it with a fork and check that the biggest piece of chicken reads 165°F.
Timer: 10 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Scatter the cilantro over and serve.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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