A Chicken Rice The Whole Family Will Love
Description
Every culture and/or cuisine has its variant of a chicken and rice dinner; every family has its own way of cooking it–which so often is just a quick bath in chicken broth to make it happen. Simple. Painless. Dinner. For the average/breathless Tuesday night, it can’t be beat.
But there are times you want more–not just chicken and rice but the sort of showstopper that makes you and/or your child excited about chicken and rice. A chicken and rice for birthdays, or for when family is over; a chicken and rice to celebrate. We’re not just talking; we’re talking abut fruits and nuts mixed in. And caramelized onions. And topped with a crispy pita. Some call it anar polo, as it is known in Iran and throughout Persian cuisine; we call it crispy chicken rice, as it is known–or understood–by, well, a toddler. Either way, it’s special.
Fair warning: this is not a quick recipe. It’s not hard and comes together pretty seamlessly; there are, however, several steps, which will add up to an hour’s work from start to finish to get to the table. It’s not likely going to solve your what-to-make-tonight? dilemma–but it could make your weekend to make this.
Ingredients
Instructions
Prep
- Wash rice until water runs clear, then soak it for an hour in a bowl with water and a pinch of salt.
- Heat rice in a pot with two cups of water and the turmeric powder until boiling; reduce heat and simmer for seven minutes. Drain and run cold water over rice to stop cooking.
- If using an onion, cut thin strips with roughly 3/4ths of the bulb by slicing vertically (i.e., top down) across the onion.
Cook
- Heat a large pan to Medium Low and add butter; spread onions out across the pan and cook, stirring sparingly, until caramelized, roughly 20-25 minutes.
- Fill a pot halfway with water. Add the other 1/4 onion, the cinnamon stick (or powder), several shakes of turmeric, and a big pinch of salt. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken breasts, cover, and turn off heat. Allow breasts to sit in the water for 7-8 minutes—6 to 7 if your chicken pieces are on the thinner side—then remove from heat and allow to cool. (Note: chicken will not be fully cooked at this point.)
- If using, and while onions and chicken are cooking, place your nuts and/or raisins in a small bowl of warm water and let them sit for 10 minutes. Drain.
- Once onions are fully browned, add in your nuts and fruits and cook for one minute. Remove from heat.
- Cut or shred the chicken into small pieces of appropriate size for your child.
- In a pot with a secure lid, generously oil the bottom of the pan; turn heat to Medium. Once hot, push lavash bread into the pot so it covers the bottom; you’ll hear it sizzle as it makes contact with the oil.
Now we’re going to create layers:
- Cover the top of the bread with a layer of rice
- Cover the rice with a layer of chicken pieces
- Cover the chicken with the onion-nut-fruit mixture.
- Repeat layers of rice and chicken until you’ve used all you’ve made.
- Reduce heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and then cover the lid with a kitchen or hand towel so no steam can escape. Cook for 20-25 minutes.
- To serve: remove lid and replace with the top side of a plate large enough to cover the pot. Position your hands so each holds the pot handles and the plate in place, then quickly flip the pot and plate over so that the plate is on bottom and the pot is upside-down on top. Gently remove the pot to ensure the layers below remain intact. To portion out the dish and ensure everyone gets a piece of the crispy pita, cut “slices” of the dish as you would a pizza.
Serve
We tend to deconstruct this for serving to little ones, portioning out the chicken, rice, and fried pita separately–not only does this allow you to remove any potential hazards or undesired elements (i.e., if you’re worried about the pomegranate or your child doesn’t like stringy onions) but also encourages the child to eat the dish as he/she sees fit. (Our child likes to use the pita pieces as a cracker to scoop up the chicken and rice.) If your child is accustomed to eating chicken–or even rice–with a sauce, go ahead and serve it here: the dish is pretty mild and welcoming of additional condiments.
Adapt
No lavash? No problem. Oil the bottom of the pan as described and put a layer of rice directly on the bottom of the pan, which will crisp up just the same. Leave out the fruit and/or nuts, replace chicken with lamb, spice–all can be done without modifying the recipe above.
