Hey everyone today I will show how to make
an easy one pot Indian style chicken and rice
recipe also known as chicken pulao. Nomoshkar
& welcome to Curries With Bumbi.
The very first thing we need to do is to soak
the rice. I have taken 3 & ½ cups of Basmati
rice. For any Indian rice recipe you have
to wash the rice very well. At first when
you add water to the rice you will see the
water turning totally white. You need to keep
on washing till the water turns clear. By
doing this you are getting rid of that starch
from the surface of the grains. If you do
not wash your rice well then you will end
up getting a sticky pulao and we are not making
sticky chicken pulao today. Then soak the
rice for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime let’s start making the curry.
Take a heavy bottomed large pot for this recipe.
For any rice recipe take a spacious pot so
that the rice grains have enough room to expand
in size and maintain its shape. We need some
dried bay leaves, a cinnamon stick and few
green cardamoms. Add them to the oil.I also
need cumin seeds. Give a stir on medium heat
for a few seconds so that the spices get toasted,
then add onion slices. As always I like to
add little salt to my onions to help them
soften up faster. Keep on stirring on medium
heat till they turn soft and develop little
color along the edges . You do not need to
brown them up for this recipe. Here we are
looking for this kind of a situation. Then
add grated ginger and grated garlic. Stir
for a minute then comes the chicken. I am
using bone in chicken pieces. You can even
use boneless chicken but guys please do not
use chicken breast for this particular recipe.
They become dry and tasteless and you do not
want to deal with that. Now, on high heat
stir the chicken so that the chicken gets
well fried along with those onions and ginger
and garlic. Please do not rush doing this
process. What you are doing here is developing
flavor. You want all that water that comes
out from the chicken to become dry and all
this will help in making the chicken more
flavorful. The chicken will turn from pink
to a cream color and when you get rid of all
that water that comes out from the chicken,
then it’s time to add the spices. We need
a good amount of curry powder, turmeric powder
or haldi , ground coriander that is dhania
powder and garam masala powder. Stir for about
a minute 
then add chopped tomatoes. Add a good amount
of salt. Remember guys, you are adding salt
here not only to season the chicken but your
rice also needs to be seasoned so add a generous
amount of salt than you normally do. Then
I remembered that I forgot to add my favorite
red chili powder. Add it earlier along with
the other spices. I also like adding little
sugar to balance the flavor. Stir from time
to time on medium heat till the tomatoes soften
down and turn into a pulp and you get a dry
kind of look. This will take about 10 minutes
or so.
I will now drain all the water from the rice
as it’s half an hour of soaking time is
over. Remember to drain out all that water
before adding the rice to the pot. My chicken
also is well fried and you can see the oil
along the edges. That is an indication that
it is time to add the rice. Add hot water.
Use the same cup with which you measured your
rice to measure water and use hot water. If
you are using boneless chicken then use chicken
broth instead of just plain water. The bones
add a lot of flavor to the rice so I always
prefer using bone in chicken pieces. I added
some whole green chilies. Taste it a little
and if you do not find it salty then add little
more of salt. When the water comes up to a
boil add the rice. Immediately after adding
the rice bring down the heat of your stove
to medium low. Add some lemon or lime juice.
You can even use white vinegar if you do not
have a lemon at home. Occasionally just give
a gentle stir but guys please do it with gentle
hands. Remember you are handling rice here
and not stones. So you do not want the grains
to break. Soon you will see the grains are
swelling up and the water is reducing. When
you see most of the rice visible on top add
butter and a pinch of ground nutmeg or jayfal.
Nutmeg gives a beautiful flavor but add at
this stage so as to get its maximum aromatic
effect in the dish. Now cover the pot and
bring down the heat of your stove to the lowest
possible mark and keep it like this for 15
minutes.
While the rice is getting cooked let’s make
a quick raita. In my mini food processor I
added some coriander leaves along with their
stalks. Then we need plain unflavored yogurt,
chaat masala, little bit of salt and of course
my favorite that is a pinch of sugar. Chaat
masala is this blend of spices that you can
literally add over anything like fried pakoras,
or fried fish. I even add it over my omelette.
You will get it at any Indian store or even
online. So here you go our raita is ready.
Okay 15 minutes done let’s check on the
rice. The rice needs some more time. Just
loosen it up very gently by running your spatula
along the sides. Then again cover it on very
low heat for another 5 minutes. After 5 minutes
take it off heat and leave it covered for
a minimum of 15 minutes. Do not be tempted
to lift up the lid and peek in at this time.
The more you leave the rice the better the
texture will become. I usually make this way
ahead of time. The more it sits the rice will
get fluffier and the grains will separate
out. Serve this with raita or you can even
make a salad of your choice. Please try out
the recipe and send me your feedback. This
is Bumbi & thanks for joining me. Stay safe
& healthy. Bye bye.
