Chicken plov
The Central Asian one-pot pilaf: golden chicken, sweet carrots and cumin-scented rice steamed together with a whole head of garlic.
- 95 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 6
- About $1.64 a serving
- 630 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 6 servings.
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 6 bone-in chicken thighs
- 2 yellow onions, sliced
- 5 carrots, cut into thick matchsticks
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 head garlic, papery outer skin rubbed off
- ¼ cup raisins (optional)
From your pantry
- 2½ tsp salt, divided
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 3 cups water, hot, divided
Each serving has about 630 calories, 28 g protein, 60 g carbs and 30 g fat, and costs about $1.64 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 bone-in chicken thighs? Chicken drumsticks work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No raisins? Dried cranberries work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice until the water runs clear, then leave it to soak in warm water for 20 minutes.
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.
Timer: 20 min
the chicken dry and it with 1 teaspoon of salt.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
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.
Heat the oil in a over medium-high. the chicken skin side down 6 to 8 minutes, flip for 2 minutes, and move it to a plate.
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.
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-high heatTimer: 9 min
Turn the heat to medium, add the onions, and cook 6 to 8 minutes, until .
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Add the carrots and cook 6 to 8 minutes, gently, until .
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.
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: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Thick matchsticks, not grated carrot. They should keep their shape in the finished plov.in the cumin, coriander, pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt, return the chicken, pour in 1 cup of hot water and 10 minutes.
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.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 10 min
the rice and spread it over the top without . Push the garlic head into the middle and gently pour in the last 2 cups of water and ½ teaspoon of salt.
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.
Dolly’s tip: Pour the water over the back of a spoon so the rice stays in a flat layer.over high, uncovered, 5 to 8 minutes, until the water sinks below the rice. Poke 5 holes down to the bottom with a spoon handle, cover tightly, and cook on low 20 minutes.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
High heatTimer: 20 min
Let it rest, covered, 10 minutes. Check that the thickest thigh reads 165°F, gently mix the rice with the carrots, and serve with the soft garlic cloves.
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.
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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