Out of all of my one pot rice recipes this has to be my favourite, although hubby says my one pot hunters chicken and rice just tops his leader board!
Full of Middle Eastern flavours, this fragrant one pot rice dish not only delivers on flavour it makes meal time a whole lot easier. Always be sure to soak your basmati rice for 30mins before cooking and then rinse thoroughly with cold water until the starch has been removed, this is my top tip for perfect rice cooking!
Prep time 10 mins
Cook time 40 mins
300g diced chicken breast
3tbsp veg or olive oil
Moroccan spice blend (see below)
1 onion, diced
1tbsp garlic paste
1tbsp ginger paste
220g washed and rinsed basmati rice
1tbsp tomato paste
100g dried apricots, roughly chopped
10 kalamata olives, pips removed and roughly chopped
Handful of chopped parsley and coriander, approx 30g all together
600ml chicken stock
1 medium lemon, thinly sliced
For the Moroccan spice blend
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp smoked paprika
1/2tsp turmeric
1/2tsp salt
Optional Garnish
5tbsp natural yoghurt mixed with 1 heaped tsp of ground cumin and a tiny pinch of salt.
Place the diced chicken in to a bowl and drizzle with 2tbsp of the oil. Now sprinkle over 2/3rds of your moroccan seasoning, (keep the rest of the spice blend until later) mix until the chicken is well coated.
You will ideally need a 10" saute pan with a lid available or a deep frying pan and make a lid from tin foil but it must be tight fitting.
Heat the remaining oil (about 1tbsp) in your saute pan on a medium to high heat, once hot add the chicken and stir fry until it's cooked through. Once you're happy the chicken is fully cooked remove from the pan and set aside.
Now add the chopped onion to the pan, you can add a little more oil or water if the pan is too dry. Cook until they are just beginning to soften, about 5mins should do the trick.
After about 5 mins add the garlic and ginger paste. Cook for 2 mins until fragrant, again add a splash of water to avoid any sticking or burning if you need to.
Now pour in the rinsed rice, tomato puree and remaining moroccan spice mix to the pan, give it a stir and let the rice get coated in the flavours.
After a couple of minutes, add the chopped apricots and olives, half of the chopped parsley and coriander mix, the stock and add the cooked chicken back in.
Turn the heat up to high and let the stock reduce to the same level as the rice. Once the stock is at the same level as the rice give it a stir, add 5 lemon slices on top, cover with a tight lid and then turn down to very low. For instance my induction hob goes from 1 to 10, 10 being highest and I put it on 2. (see my YouTube video for visual reference)
Set a timer and leave for 13mins, don't not uncover until then.
After 13mins you should have a perfectly cooked fragrant rice dish!! 🤩
Serve up and sprinkle over the extra chopped herbs and some cumin yoghurt.
