Chicken Pilau
There meals that are so typically Kenyan. Meals that you will rarely miss at most gathering. You know those meals that ALL Kenyans think they can cook just by virtue of them being Kenyan. Sort of like the way you imagine all Italians should know how to make great pasta meals or pizza or that a Spaniard should have their paella skills locked down. Well pilau is one of those meals for Kenyans. Its always in every wedding or party but only thing is they do not really make pilau but some version of it where they put meat and some pilau masala and call it pilau, HAA!! What a shame.
Then there my relatives from central who made the term pilau Njeri famous. What we do is add everything we have then some pilau masala and call it Pilau. BIGGER HAAA!! I was never really in this league but in the league of those who just used pilau masala and came out with something sort of, kinda like pilau. That was until a few years ago when my gal Angie’s mum tried to teach me how to make it right. I never really got the measurements right but she did make a mean Pilau and she told me that she would sometimes add pilau masala for the color. Well the knowledge she passed on to me kinda faded away and I forgot all about cooking a good pilau till sometime last year when I discovered Fauzia and begun to try again.
I promise you this is the simplest pilau recipe you will ever come across. And it’s really tasty too each time I make it I have to stop myself from eating the whole sufuria.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken cut up into pieces
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 500 grams of rice
- 3 onions, chopped
- 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into 4 pieces each
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin/coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground roasted cumin powder
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 5 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste (extra)
- a bunch of coriander,chopped
- 1 level tablespoon whole cumin
- ½ teaspoon whole pepper
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 2 cardamom
Instructions
Soak the rice in 4 cups of water for at least 30 minutes
Put the chicken with 1 tablespoon of garlic,1 teaspoon ginger, black pepper and salt. Add the water. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes ONLY. The chicken will cook later
Put a big pot on heat. Once it is hot add the oil and butter. Once butter is melted add the spices in the spices coloumn. Stir and once they begin to splutter add onions and cook till they are translucent then add in the potatoes, turmeric and cumin/coriander powder. Stir and fru for a few minutes then add in the remaining garlic and the chopped coriander.
Add in the boiled chicken stir well then add the stock ( the ratio of stock:rice is 1.25:1, 1 and ¼ cups of stock for every cup of rice) and some salt. Let it simmer then taste for salt. It should be “too” salty for your liking so that it’s just right when the rice is cooked.
Drain rice and add to the pot, stir well then sprinkle with some coriander on top. Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes then reduce the heat to medium and cover with a lid. Once the water has reduced reduce the heat to very low. Let this cook for about ten minutes then switch off the heat.
Fluff rice with a fork and leave the lid on for about 3 minutes.
HAPPY EATING!!
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/chicken-pilau/Herbs and Spices You Should Have in your Pantry
Photo from Alarabiya.net
This post is many many months overdue. I had promised to do one for my novice cooks friends and bachelors who wanted to know what they should stock their pantries with. My gal Mo actually came to my house about 2 months ago and said she was tired of waiting and she made me write the list down for her. I have gotten a couple of queries for this post as well so when I got another request last week from Bree, one of my readers, I knew it was time to get in it.
Now, sometimes I hear people talk about spices as if they are a bad thing, as though using spices in your food is a mistake. IT IS NOT. Herbs and spices are your friends; they complement your cooking and baking. They make food taste better and enhance the flavour of the dish you’re making. I hope you will all experiment with more herbs and spices and not just Royco. HAPPY COOKING!!
Basic Cook
- Royco
- Black pepper: Add to your food for a peppery taste, it’s great with pasta or potatoes. I also use it so as to use less salt in my food.
- Ground garlic: it’s a decent substitute for fresh garlic, also use it when boiling your potatoes to add flavour,
- Ground ginger: This is also a decent substitute for fresh ginger, makes great tea and when added to food it gives a great flavour
- Tea masala
- Fish masala: add to your fresh or canned fish when making a stew or when frying them.
- Chicken Masala (Make sure its Nature’s own brand): add to your normal chicken stew, the flavour is amazing, you can also add a little bit of coconut milk. YUM!
- Cinnamon: for your tea, milk, cakes, pancakes, some meat dishes
- Turmeric: to add color to any curry you’d like to make
- Rosemary : for tea and it’ s also great for marinades.
- Knorr spicy beef and chicken cubes. And knorr sukuma wiki beef cubes
- Curry Powder
For the experimental cook
- Garam Masala: great for stews and curries
- Cumin Seeds: Great for curries and rice
- Cayenne pepper: I prefer this to normal chilies as its quite hot
- Coriander Powder : good for curries and stews
- Jeera Powder: this is ground cumin seeds, also good for curries and marinades
- Mixed Spice: Used in baking, you might see it in some recipes as pumpkin pie spice
- Cardamon seeds and powder: for tea and baking
- All Spice: I’m still learning how to use this. Its flavour is very strong. Use it for baking, stews, curries and marinades
- Bay leaves: good for stews and curries
- Tandoori Masala: this is ooh so delicious. Mix it with natural yogurt, some chilli and maybe cumin and use it as a marinade for your roast chicken.
- Chillie
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Garlic salt: if you love garlic this is great for flavouring your food
- Aromat: I especially like the spicy beef flavour
- Meat tenderiser: pour some on your tough cuts of meat leave for at least 30 minutes and it makes your meat softer.
- Cream of tartar
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
Sauces
- Soy sauce: get low sodium if your watching your salt.
- Fish sauce: I love this sauce, it’s great for Asian dishes, the flavour it adds to food is out of this world. Take care of the salt you add to food though as this sauce is very salty.
- Teriyaki Sauce: add this to your chicken with some brown sugar and you have a meal
- Sweet Chilli sauce: good for stir fries or use it as a dipping sauce
- Worcestershire Sauce: great for meats and also a good substitute for tamarind (ukwaju)
Paste
Here you can be as experimental as you like. One paste I never miss is for red thai curry (ill post a recipe soon) pastes are great for when you want to impress but realy can not to bothered to cook from scratch. Most times you just need to add the meat to the paste, in some you may also need coconut milk. I honestly think they are lifesavers. Go to Nakumatt and look at their selection they have a very wide range.
NB:
- I tend to buy nature’s own masalas. I know there is a difference with the chicken Masalas, so I just tend to buy all my masalas from nature’s own the rest I do Tropical heat or either of the 2 any brands. BUT other than the chicken masala I can not say that the other masalas are not good or better. I do sometimes use Robertsons for “special spices”
- For spices that you do not use often buy the smaller tins as ground spices loose their flavour after about 6 months.
- Store away from direct sunlight or heat
- Spices are better when bought whole. If you can buy whole spices eg cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander etc and grind them yourself. The flavour will be stronger. Apart from flavour whole spices also keep their flavour for up to a year as compared to the ready ground that last just 6 months.
- There so many spices at the supermarkets to choose from you can start with the above then brunch out from there. The possibilities for your food is virtually endless
What spices do you love to use?
HAPPY COOKING!!
