We have a rice maker that has gotten a lot of use ever since
we splurged on it in Chinatown over ten years ago. Usually, however, we use it
to make basic white rice to accompany stir fry dishes, curries or soups. Occasionally
I’ll doctor the rice up with some garlic or chicken broth but it’s simply a
platform on which to serve the main dish. Ottolenghi’s recipe for Chicken with
Cardamom Rice from his Jerusalem cookbook takes rice to a whole other
level. In this dish, the chicken takes a
back seat to the delicious rice that is flavored with caramelized onions,
cinnamon sticks, cardamom, cloves and currants.
It’s a one pot dish that actually comes together fairly
quickly. I have made it exactly how the recipe suggests but I have also substituted
boneless, skinless chicken thighs. If you are on a budget (Hi self!), you can
use just one of the three suggested fresh herbs. I tried to pass this off to
Xavier as ‘rice with raisins’ as he was feeling under the weather and is a fan of both. He took one look at the
cardamom pods and whole cloves poking out of the rice and went back to watching TV. I guess the plain white rice cooker will continue to steam away in our
house…
I LOVE THIS DISH! It is my favorite from that book...
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