I'm not feeling too well (i have a very nasty cold) and i fancied some pilau/akhni, that was not too time consuming. As i already had a baby chicken in the fridge, i thought i would cook chicken and peas pilau, and using some left over chicken mince mixture, make some kebabs. Here is the recipe for the akhni/pilau:
Ingredients for chicken curry:
2 tbsp oil
3 cardamoms
3 cloves
3 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp minced ginger and garlic
1 and 1/2 small onions, finely sliced
Salt to taste (little less than usual)
1 baby chicken, curry cut
1 and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp madras hot curry powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 and 1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
For the rice:
5 rice cooker cups basmati rice, washed and soaked for a minimum of half an hour
2 tbsp ghee
Pinch of cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamoms
3 cloves
3 peppercorns
1 tbsp minced garlic and ginger
1 and 1/2 small onions, finely sliced
Salt to taste
A handful of frozen peas
Food colouring (optional)
7 green chillies
Fried onions
Chopped coriander
Firstly wash then soak your basmati rice for a minimum of 30 minutes.
To make the chicken curry, in a non stick wok put in the oil and whole spices (cardamoms, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves and cinnamon stick) and once oil is infused, add the ginger and garlic and brown. Then add the onions and salt, and after stirring for a minute, add the chicken. Stir well, then cover and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Once chicken is half cooked, add in your powdered spices, stir, cover and cook on a low heat for a further 10 minutes. Add water only if you think the curry will burn, otherwise the curry is meant to be very dry. Check regularly.
Whilst the curry is cooking, take another pan and put in your ghee. Then add the cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cardamoms, cloves and peppercorns. Once ghee is infused, add the minced ginger and garlic and brown. Once browned, add your onions and salt and fry on a medium heat until the onions are slightly golden.
Add your peas and stir well. Cover and cook for 2 minutes before rinsing your rice well and adding to the onions and peas. Turn the heat up to high and mix rice well until all grains have been coated in ghee. When you feel the rice sticking to the pan, scrape them off, lower the heat and add your chicken curry to the rice.
Mix well again, then add in enough water to cover the rice and chicken. Water should come 1cm above the rice mix. Stir again, cover and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.
After 5 minutes, take cover off, then dot food colouring in 3 places (optional - i do this to make it fun for my son), add your green chillies, sprinkle fried onions all over and garnish with chopped coriander. Cover the pot with foil and place the lid over the foil. Fold in excess foil in the sides, put the pot on the smallest hob and on the lowest heat, and cook for 10 minutes or until water is fully evaporated.
Be careful when checking, the steam is hot. Leave the oilau under foil until you want to serve. This will ensure your grains remain lovely and separated.
Once opened, mix well to ensure even distribution of onions, chicken food colouring and coriander.
Serve as you wish!
Hope you enjoy!
Yaz ❤
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