When I was little, I had a very active imagination and instead of practicing my cursive or memorizing times tables, I’d often doze off, letting my day dreams pull me down the rows of faux wood desks and out of the pale green classroom. To this day, my cursive is atrocious and my ability to recite times tables stops in the 2’s. Luckily, my overactive imagination now helps in the kitchen as a source of inspiration.
While making the passionfruit granola this afternoon, the apartment filled with the aromas of a lush tropical garden and I soon found myself being whisked off to a warm steamy jungle with unfamiliar foliage and intoxicating aromas. This dish is the product of my mid afternoon day dream and while it’s not authentic to any place in the real world, it was the national dish in the land of my dreams.
The chicken is marinated in a spicy yogurt mixture and steams atop a bed of rice that’s been par-boiled in sweet spices. Because they’re fried first, the chicken thighs have a nice brown exterior, and the gentle steam keeps the meat moist and incredibly tender as they cook. In the middle of the aromatic rice, there’s a golden layer of caramelized onions, ginger, chilies and coconut that adds a sweet, spicy, flavor bomb into each bite of rice. The coconut milk lends a creaminess that helps bring the flavors and textures together in a balanced way.
The key to getting the great flavor is to make sure the water you cook the rice in is sufficiently salted and spiced. Caramelizing the onion/ginger/coconut mixture is also crucial for the flavor, so make sure you take the full 20-30 minutes it takes to get them nice and brown.
In terms of preparation, it’s similar to the chicken biryani I made a few months ago, but the flavors are really quite different. Next time I make this, I’m going to add some raisins to the onion mixture for some added sweetness.
Units
Ingredients
- 2 cups Basmati rice
- 4 chicken thighs
- 2 plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 teaspoons ginger (minced)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (less if you’re using table salt)
- pepper
- 2 large onions (thinly sliced)
- 1 tablespoon ginger
- 2 small Serrano chilies (minced with seeds)
- ½ cups dried unsweetened shredded coconut
- 3 quarts water
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 10 pods cardamom (cracked)
- 12 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ¼ cups coconut milk
- Thai basil (minced for garnish)
Instructions
- Soak the rice in water for at least 2 hours.
- Wash the chicken and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Remove any excess bits of fat or skin then make the marinade by combining the yogurt, garam masala, coriander, cinnamon, garlic ginger, salt and pepper in a bowl. Thoroughly coat the chicken with the marinade, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Heat a pan over medium heat and add a generous splash of oil. Fry the onions and ginger along with a generous pinch of salt until the onions are are just starting to brown. Add the chilies and coconut and continue frying stirring constantly until the whole mixture is a nice golden brown. Taste and add additional salt to taste. Transfer to a bowl, scraping as much off the pan as you can.
- Heat 3 qts of water along with the salt, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf until the water is boiling and has taken on a brown color from the spices. Drain the soaking rice and add to the boiling water. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes, stirring once. Drain the rice and pick out the spices.
- Heat a medium sauce pan that’s big enough to fit all the chicken in a single layer over medium heat. Add a splash of oil and fry the chicken until brown on one side (6 to 7 minutes). Flip and brown the other side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and drain off any excess oil.
- Add half the rice to the pan you fried the chicken in then spread the coconut/onion mixture over the rice. Cover with the rest of the rice and pour the coconut milk over the rice. Top with the chicken and any collected juices, cover the pot with a lid, and put over medium high heat. Once you hear the coconut milk boiling, turn the heat down to medium low and maintain a gentle simmer. Do not take the lid off while cooking as the trapped heat is necessary to cook the chicken. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until there is no liquid left.
- To serve, plate the rice making sure to get the middle and bottom layers and top with a piece of chicken. Finish with a sprinkle of Thai basil and serve with chutney or sambal.
Pooja says
hi,
I like chicken , your recipes is looking too tasty , i will try this at my home, thanks for new taste
Pooja says
hi,
I like chicken , your recipes is looking too tasty , i will try this at my home, thanks for new taste
Meg says
Looks delicious. I love anything with coconut.
Meg says
Looks delicious. I love anything with coconut.
Muneeba says
Oh I have to try this one too, Marc! Will let you know how it turns out … am very excited about it!
Muneeba says
Oh I have to try this one too, Marc! Will let you know how it turns out … am very excited about it!
jennythewoo says
We just made and ate this tonight. It was DELICIOUS! We had this with a side of Indian cabbage and mango chutney, which is key. I think with chutney the raisins aren’t needed.
The other thing I had to watch out for is the rice burning on the bottom. Luckily I turned the flame off just in time for a dark brown crunchy bottom.
I would be proud to serve this to friends. Thanks so much Marc!
jennythewoo says
We just made and ate this tonight. It was DELICIOUS! We had this with a side of Indian cabbage and mango chutney, which is key. I think with chutney the raisins aren’t needed.
The other thing I had to watch out for is the rice burning on the bottom. Luckily I turned the flame off just in time for a dark brown crunchy bottom.
I would be proud to serve this to friends. Thanks so much Marc!
Argelia says
Hello
I live in Mexico and its really hard for me to get the cardamomo seeds..
i will try to make this dish today, and will let you know how it goes 🙂
Marilia says
I made this last night. It was delicious. However, I have some suggestions for anyone thinking of making this. First of all, don’t try to sear the chicken with skin on after marinating it in the yogurt mixture. It will stick like a you-know-what and the yogurt will burn. When I make this again, I will just pull the skin off the chicken thighs.
DEFINITELY follow Mark’s recommendation to really seriously brown the onion and coconut mixture. It really makes the dish complete.
I would also put all the spices into a bouquet garni next time. It was a PITA to pick them all out of hot rice.
This was so interesting to make. I was worried because I thought all the components on their own were too strongly flavored (the rice is SUPER salty when it comes out of the par boil, for example), but they all meshed really well once they cooked together with the coconut milk. I will most certainly make this again, but will make a few changes to make the recipe a bit simpler.
Thanks for the great recipes! I just stumbled onto your site and am having a foodie crush. 🙂
Heather says
I just made this last night and it was outstanding! I even left out half of the ingredients… I only use curry powder, never garam masala… they are not the same thing where I’m from… maybe next time I will try the recipe as is… Soooo good! Thanks.