Chicken thighs and yellow turmeric rice with green peas come together beautifully in this easy and delicious one pan dish.
This rice and chicken bake goes so well with our Cauliflower and Potato Curry.
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Who doesn’t love easy, all-in-one dish meals? Delicious, non-fussy dinners, which don’t require a lot of washing up too. Win on all fronts if you ask me.
If you are a fan of vibrant Indian flavours of ginger, garlic, coriander and turmeric, you will fall in love with this chicken and rice recipe. This dish delivers quite a punch without being too spicy!
Chicken and Rice
This classic combo exists in many world cuisines for a good reason. It’s delicious and satisfying! This particular recipe is my own invention.
It draws on the flavours of Indian cuisine, my family loves so much, but it is not an authentic Indian recipe. It is however, scrumptious. So I truly hope you love it as much as we do.
The Flavours
I combined my favourite spices, typically used in Indian curries, and infused Basmati rice with the mix. I also replaced part of the water, the rice is cooked in, with creamy coconut milk.
Then I topped the rice and pea combo with browned chicken thighs and baked everything together until the rice was fluffy and the chicken is juicy and perfectly done.
The end result blew past my expectations. Creamy, fragrant rice, which gets its flavour from a variety of spices and the chicken juices, and its yellow colour from turmeric.
The spices you will need are cumin, coriander ginger, garlic, turmeric and chilli powder for a touch of heat. I used Kashmiri chilli powder for a milder taste. If you can’t find it, replace with paprika.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- I used skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs in this recipe but they could be replaced with skinless boneless chicken thighs or even breasts.
- If you do use skin on chicken thighs, they absolutely have to be browned first to avoid unpleasant skin texture later on.
- There are quite a few spices in this recipe, which might be challenging if you don’t normally use them in your everyday cooking. If that is your case, simply replace them with 2 Tbsp of fresh curry powder. Your recipe might not taste exactly the same but it will be a fair substitute. By “fresh” I mean curry powder that is not past its due date. Even though spice mixes don’t spoil, they lose their aroma and potency quickly.
- I added frozen peas to my recipe but you can replace them with green beans, broccoli or any other vegetables you like.
More Chicken and Rice Recipes to Try:
Chicken and Yellow Rice
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 6 bone in chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder or 1 tsp paprika
- 270g/1 ½ cups basmati rice
- 2 tsp salt
- 400ml/1 ¾ cup water
- 400ml/14 oz This is an affiliate link.coconut milk
- 140g/1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro/coriander for garnish
- 1 tbsp sliced green onions for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. In a large pan heat the oil and brown the chicken thighs on high heat on each side until golden but not cooked all the way through, then remove to a plate.
- Lower the heat and add the onion and ginger, cook for 5 minutes, then add garlic, turmeric, coriander, cumin and the chilli powder, cook while scraping the bottom of the pan and stirring the whole time for 1 minute or so.
- Add the rice and cook while stirring for 1 minute, then add the water, coconut milk, salt and frozen peas stir to combine, turn up the heat and bring to a boil.
- Return the chicken with the juices, that collected at the bottom of the plate, to the pot, cover with a lid and put in the oven for 30 minutes or until the rice is done. By the end of the cooking time, the liquid should be completely absorbed, producing light and fluffy rice. (If there is still remaining liquid after 30 minutes, cook for 10 minutes longer uncovered.) Serve sprinkled with chopped cilantro/coriander and sliced green onions.
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