Easy One Pot Chicken Pulao Recipe: Flavourful, Quick, and Perfect for Weeknight Dinners
Ingredients
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- 7 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 tsp garlic, finely chopped
- 1.5 tsp ginger, finely chopped
- 1 medium chicken, on the bone, cut in pieces with skin removed 700-750 grams approximately
- 1750 ml boiling water to cook the rice (5 mugs)
- 1 chicken stock cube optional
- 800 grams of basmati rice or 3 mugs I like to use Tilda Pure Basmati Rice
Pulao Spices
- 5 cloves
- 8 black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon bark
- 3 black cardamom pods
- 3 tsp salt
Instructions
- Put the oven on 100C, fan assisted.
- Wash the rice, and leave it to soak for at least 30 minutes, ideally 2 hours.
- Heat the oil in large saucepan, add the onions and brown until they are very dark. You can add small splashes of water if the onions start to stick to the pan. The darker the onions, the darker the colour of the rice is, so don't rush this step.
- Add all the spices and garlic and ginger and stir through until the garlic ginger smell and reduced. This should take no more than 2 minutes.
- Then add the chicken and brown the chicken in the spices and onions.
- Once the chicken had browned, turn the heat down and let the chicken cook for 5-6 minutes. We want the chicken to cook through thoroughly. Keep stirring on adhoc basis to make sure the chicken is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add small splashes of water if the chicken is sticking. The chicken should become golden brown.
- Drain the water from the soaked rice, then add the drained rice and boiling water to the pan. If you are using the chicken stock cube, add this to the boiling water first and dissolve it before adding to the pan. Then turn the heat to high.
- Once the water is boiling in the pan, cover with the pan lid and turn the heat down to low.
- Let the rice cook for a few minutes in the pan, when there is still some moisture left in the rice, but the rice is nearly cooked, take the pan off the heat and put the pan in the oven with the lid on for dham/ steaming for 30-40 minutes. It will vary on how long the rice takes to cook, it's based on how long you soaked the rice. The longer you soak the rice, the quicker it cooks.You can also do the dham on the hob by covering with saucepan with a thin tea towel, putting the saucepan lid on top and turning the heat down to very low.
- The rice strands should be separate and not soggy or stuck together, then you know the rice has been cooked properly and is ready to serve.
