I wanted to cook a one-pot meal today. I had chicken thighs that I wanted to cook for dinner and also some Basmati rice.
Actually, I looked into my pantry this morning and found not just Basmati rice, but Japanese rice, glutinous rice, brown rice, Arborio rice, and of course, Jasmine rice. *FACE PALM*
How can one household have some many types of rice?! So the goal now is to use them up.
I started by cooking this beautiful pot of rice.
The idea was to cook the rice in my paella pan, but half way through the cooking process, I realized I didn’t have enough time to hang around to keep checking on the rice so I placed everything in the rice cooker to cook!
You can’t take the Chinese out of me it seems. Hehe.
Anyway, this was ABSOLUTELY delicious! Even my mom who does not eat tomatoes (or anything with tomatoes) declared she liked it.
Yes, it passed the Aunty-test. 🙂
So here are the instructions on how to cook this dish.
In a bowl, mix together garlic powder, smoked paprika, ground cumin, salt. cayenne pepper and black pepper
Add 2 tablespoons of this spice mix into a bowl, along with 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and lime juice. Whisk to combine.
Slather this all over the chicken. It looks like there isn’t enough to coat all the chicken but it is.
In a skillet, fry the chicken (in batches) in some olive oil, skin side down for 2 minutes or until well browned then turn the chicken over and cook a further 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken into a bowl then cook the remaining chicken.
When all the chicken have been browned, drain the oil (carefully!). Return the skillet onto the stove and cook the diced onions on medium heat for a minute before adding minced garlic. Cook this for 30 seconds.
Add red peppers and saute for 2-3 minutes for the pepper to soften. Add the basmati rice and stir to coat the rice with the oil.
Finally, add the low sodium chicken stock, kidney beans, tomato paste and corn kernels. Stir until everything is well-mixed.
At this stage, you can place the chicken on the rice, cover the skillet with a lid or foil and bake this in an oven at 180°C for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake a further 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is fluffy.
Alternatively, you can transfer the rice and remaining ingredients into the bowl of a rice cooker and place the chicken on the rice. Then simply turn on the rice cooker and wait for the rice and chicken to be cooked! (See note below).
Serve the rice with chopped coriander and wedges of lime.
Enjoy! 🙂
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder (or 2 garlic cloves, minced)
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon cumin powder
- 1¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- Black pepper, to taste
- 5 chicken thigh fillets, bone-in and skin on
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lime (juice only)
- 1 small onion, peeled and diced (or ½ large)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 red capsicum (bell pepper), sliced
- 1 cup long grain rice - I used 1 1/2 cups Basmati rice (you can also use Jasmine rice)
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock/broth (or vegetable stock) - I used 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- ¾ cup tomato puree or 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels (or canned - drained)
- 1 can (400g/16oz) black beans, drained and rinsed (or sub with red kidney beans) - I used red kidney beans
- 1 lime, plus extra to serve
- Coriander, chopped
- Sliced jalapeño peppers (optional)
- In a bowl, mix together garlic powder, smoked paprika, ground cumin, salt. cayenne pepper and black pepper.
- Add 2 tablespoons of this spice mix into a bowl, along with 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and lime juice. Whisk to combine.
- Slather this all over the chicken. It looks like there isn’t enough to coat all the chicken but it is.
- In a skillet, fry the chicken (in batches) in some olive oil, skin side down for 2 minutes or until well browned then turn over and cook a further 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken into a bowl and cook the remaining chicken.
- When all the chicken has been browned, drain the oil (carefully!). Return the skillet onto the stove and cook the diced onions on medium heat for a minute before adding minced garlic. Cook this for 30 seconds.
- Add red peppers and saute for 2-3 minutes for the pepper to soften. Add the basmati rice and stir to coat the rice with the oil.
- Finally, add the low sodium chicken stock, kidney beans, tomato paste and corn kernels. Stir until everything is well-mixed.
- At this stage, you can place the chicken on the rice, cover the skillet with a lid or foil and cook this in an oven at 180°C for 25 minutes. Remove the foil then bake a further 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is fluffy.
- Alternatively, you can transfer the rice and remaining ingredients into the bowl of a rice cooker and place the chicken on the rice. Then simply turn on the rice cooker and wait for the rice and chicken to be cooked!
- Serve the rice with chopped coriander and wedges of lime.
- If the rice is still not soft at the end of the cooking time, add a little more water (1-2 tablespoons a time) and press COOK on the rice cooker again.
Tovolo Silicone Mixing Spoon – Fuchsia
No need to put in water if cook in the rice cooker?
Hi jocelyn I have stated the amount of water (or stock) required in the recipe.
This is definitely happening in my life!
I hope you like it Simonee! <3
Thanks for sharing this recipe, our entire family loved it!!! Especially the rice! Just the right amount of spice, about a 2 on the scale.
PS–I found this on the Big Oven app. And for future cooks..I personally found the chicken a pit strong on its own, but I cut mine up and mixed it with the rice and loved it that way.)
THANKS AGAIN!!!!
That is awesome Jaime!! I am so glad the dish was well-received 🙂
Hey Diana
I don’t have a paella pan. Can I cook this in a le cruset (pan with cover) in the oven?
Gail
Yes you can!
Great! By the way did you use tomato purée or paste? Recipe calls for purée but the picture looks thick like a paste
Hi Gail you can use either! Just difference in quantities. I have updated the recipe, thanks for the heads up!
I came across your website yesterday while looking for a chicken and rice recipe. I made this for dinner last night and everyone loved it. I used 2 cups of rice and 4 cups of liquid (stock, tin of pureed tomatoes and tomato paste combined) and it worked out perfectly. I added a whole teaspoon of cayenne to the spice rub and an extra teaspoon of cumin to the rice/onions/capsicum in the pan before adding the stock. It was delicious and very very easy. Thank you.
I am so glad to know you liked the recipe Andrea! Thank you for trying!
Oh, and I used skinless thigh cutlets because that’s what I had, and it worked out very well and the chicken was not dry at all.
I love chicken thighs They are always juicy after cooking 🙂