Chicken with Cardamom and Rice
I recently made this *amazing* recipe, which was taken from a blurry picture that someone else took of a cookbook. That’s to say, it was passed around and I’m not quite sure where it’s from but won’t pretend to be versed enough in this type of cooking to publish an original recipe! This is a great Palestinian dish that can be made in just one pan. Most of the ingredients, outside of barberries (which I replaced with…raisins) are quiet accessible at a regular American grocery store.
One thing I love to do is explore and post new recipes I receive from clients, friends and family that I wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to. During quarantine, I’ve been leaning into this even more than usual. I believe that people think fitness food is boring because the larger fitness community in the US completely fails to include cuisine from basically anywhere else (ok, maybe they throw a little sriracha on a chicken breast and go wild with some sushi every other week…). Rather than great new dishes with exciting spices and flavors, trainers have their clients eating chicken breast and broccoli using depressing spice blends marketed at the fitness community. Just think of the weight loss meal templates you see - they lack so much imagination and they’re so inaccessible to people coming from most backgrounds. Imagine beginning a fitness regimen because you want to get in shape and believing that in order to be fit, you need to five up all the foods that are culturally significant to you. That’s insane!
There are so many healthy and satisfying dishes to explore from other countries. I hope to collect more and more of them to start to show that you don’t have to give up your home comfort foods, whatever they are, to get healthier. If you know of any great recipes I should try, or any other people doing the same, please let me know! Let’s make a collection of recipes that show every cuisine has a place in a healthy diet.
Anyways, think about that and send me your ideas! But on to the recipe - and just think this recipe below IS chicken and rice, but it is not depressing at all. A miracle.
Ingredients
3 TBSP or 40g sugar
3 TBSP or 40 ml water
2 1/2 TBSP raisins (original recipe suggests barberries, which I’ve ordered! Excited to compare!)
4 TBSP olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced (I used yellow)
2 1/2 lb or 1kg skin-on, bone-in chicken thigh (i used skinless/boneless because meat choices in a pandemic are limited and it was good!)
10 cardamom pods
Rounded 1/4 tsp whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
1 2/3 cups or 300g basmati or jasmine rice
2 1/4 cups or 550 ml boiling water
1 1/2TBSP or 5g flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup or 5g dill leaves, chopped
1/4 cup or 5g cilantro leaves, chopped (i was out of this and skipped)
Plenty of Salt and pepper
Directions
You only need complete this step if you’re using actual barberries. Put the sugar and the 3 TBSP of water into a small saucepan and dissolve the sugar completely. Remove from heat and add the barberries. Set aside to soak. if you are using raisins (or currants), skip this all together.
Heat half of the olive oil in a large pan (be sure you have the lid for this pan) over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 10-15 minutes - until the onion has reached a nice deep golden brown. Transfer the caramelized onion to a bowl and wipe the pan with a paper towel.
Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl and combine with 1 1/2 tsp of both salt and pepper, remaining olive oil, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. Use your hands to mix well. Heat the frying pan over medium heat again and then add the chicken and spices. Sear for 5 minutes per side in order to cook the chicken, then remove from the pan along with whichever spices come easily with the chicken (ie don’t worry too much about where the spices go, it’s all good).
Remove excess oil so that there’s just a thin film remaining. Add the rice, onion, 1 tsp salt, fresh ground pepper (plenty!), and raisins or barberries. Stir well.
Return the chicken to the pot with the rice mixture and push the chicken around into the rice.
Pour the boiling water over the chicken and rice. Cover the pan and cook on a very low heat for 30 minutes.
This is a new part with a new method that I have never used before! After 30 minutes, remove the lid quickly and place a clean kitchen towel over the rice mixture, then replace the lid and leave it for another 10 minutes.
Add herbs and fluff the rice. Add additional salt and pepper to taste (I didn’t add any more).
Serve with warm yogurt and/or pickled onions. Enjoy!
If you try this, or have other recommendations for recipes to try please let me know.