Chicken pilaf with raisins, cumin & lemon
Chicken pilaf with raisins, cumin & lemon
This is a flavour packed easy cheats pilaf that gets whipped together on the stove top. Perfect for a weeknight supper. Use chicken breast if you prefer but thigh meat is tastier. Omit the chicken if you want to keep this dish vegetarian.
Rice:
1 ¼ cup basmati rice
500ml water
¼ tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 vegetable or chicken stock cube
2 peeled pieces of lemon rind
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
Pilaf:
3 Tbsp olive oil
400 gms skinless, boneless chicken thick meat cut into bite sized chunks
2 tbsp olive oil
1 knob of butter, about 20gms
1 large white onion finely chopped
1 leek, washed and finely sliced
1 medium carrot grated
2 star anise pods
1 bay leaf
2 -3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
60 gms raisin, presoaked in hot water for 5 – 10 minutes (Thomas seedless are a good choice here)
The zest from the remainder of the lemon
Juice of a lemon (about 2 Tbsp)
Salt and pepper
Handful of pistachios or almonds roughly chopped (about 40gms)
Small bunch of parsley or parsley & dill, chopped (about 15gms)
Optional extra to serve: chopped mint stirred through yoghurt
Cook the basmati in your favourite way or according to the pack instructions adding the spices and aromatics at the beginning.
While the rice is cooking, heat the 3 Tbsp olive oil in a nonstick pan and season the chicken well with salt & pepper and then fry the pieces until golden brown. Set aside.
In the same pan, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the butter and sauté the onion, leek and carrot with the bay leaf and star anise pods until softened and taking on some colour. About 10 minutes.
At around 8 minutes into the cooking time, add the garlic and cumin and finish off the cooking process. Add the raisin and lemon zest & lemon juice and heat through.
When the rice is ready, remove the lemon zest rind and discard. Add the rice to the pilaf mix with the cooked chicken and toss to heat everything through with the chopped parsley. Add salt & pepper if necessary.
Dish up on a warmed serving platter or directly from the pan and scatter over the chopped herbs and nuts and serve the minted yoghurt on the side (optional)