Chicken Green Pulao
Drrooool. I can’t help it. It’s the chicken green pulao, you see! You’ll know what I’m talking about after you’ve eaten this marvellous one pot rice and chicken dish. The spices and herbs are balanced perfectly with the coconutty flavour, and the rich aroma tantalises you so! I’ve been searching for a cracking chicken and rice dish, and I’ve found it in the chicken green pulao.
I found this treasure in a treasure trove (hahaa!) called annapurni, by Sabita Radhakrishna. I’ve only ever made biryanis — the art of perfectly cooking a basmati rice so each grain is separate from the other has eluded me for a long time — so chicken green pulao caught my attention immediately.
As I read the recipe, however, I realised that it was actually a biryani. The author asks us to layer the the rice and chicken alternatively, and ensure that the rice is soft. A pulao on the other hand is cooked along with the stock of the meat, and each rice grain is separate. While I haven’t changed the ingredients, I changed the method of cooking towards the end so it does turn out like a pulao.
Don’t let the instructions bear down on you. If you persist, you will be left with a worthy dish. This one-pot meal can be eaten as is, or you can eat is with curd pachadi — it makes for a great salad-cum-accompaniment and can be made quickly while the rice and chicken cook.. It tastes better when eaten the next day.
Serving: Let the chicken green pulao rest for 15-20 minutes before you serve it. Serve it hot with cold curd pachadi.
Related Links
What is The Difference Between Pulao (Pilaf) and Biryani? (food.ndtv.com)
What’s the difference between biryani, pulao and fried rice? (indiatoday)
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1Wash the rice and let it soak for about half an hour in water.
- 2Wash and clean the chicken, and cut it into medium pieces.
- 3Grind 2 cloves, 2 pieces of cinnamon, the cardamoms, 1 onion, the ginger, garlic, chillies, coriander leaves, mint leaves and the nuts. Marinate the chicken pieces in the paste.
- 4Extract coconut milk — aim for 1 and 1/2 cups thick milk and 1 cup thin milk.
- 5Heat the oil or ghee in a heavy-bottomed vessel and temper with the bay leaf, and the remaining spices.
- 6After about 30 seconds, add the onion and sauté until it is transparent. Then add the chicken along with the ground masala, salt and turmeric powder. Give it all a good stir and let it fry until the oil rises to the top.
- 7Add the thin coconut milk and curds and let it all cook under a lid for 5 minutes.
- 8Add the rice, stirring it into the vessel slowly and let it cook for 5 minutes under the lid.
- 9Now add the thick coconut milk and cook it on low heat until done. Add lime juice in the end, according to your taste.
- 10Check the pulao now and then to ensure that that enough water for the chicken and rice to cook in. If it seems dry to you then add a little hot water at a time (I added about two tablespoons a few times. Cook until the rice if soft and the chicken firm. Ensure that each rice grain is separate though and not mushy!
Notes
Serving: Let the chicken green pulao rest for 15-20 minutes before you serve it. Serve it hot with cold curd pachadi.