This recipe for coconut chicken and rice with green beans is a busy midweek dinner saver! You should make it!
For another delicious Indonesian recipe, take a look at my fried rice Nasi Goreng.
This recipe for Indonesian coconut chicken and rice almost didn’t make it on the blog. Don’t get me wrong, it absolutely belongs on your dinner table but it’s not exactly the most beautiful food I’ve posted here.
I pulled it out of the oven and my heart fell because it just looked so, well BROWN and beige. And I thought to myself no one would believe how delicious it is! What am I going to do!!!
And then another thought occurred, ‘what a load of rubbish!’ Behind that brown colour lied the most tantalising aroma and layers upon layers of flavour!
It was also one of those “comfort food dishes” without tons of fat or cheese!
The idea behind this one pot dinner, and I mean it is ACTUALLY all cooked in one pot, is to take Indonesian-inspired chicken curry and rice, simplify it for an everyday cook and combine in one pot for convenience. I can honestly say I achieved it.
So please forgive the brown colour and remember that a lot of comfort food is in fact brown but nonetheless delicious. It is also timeless.
I’ve also added some green beans to make a complete one-panner. You can use any vegetables you like. Broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas will all be just as great!
I have used skinless and boneless chicken thighs as I find they don’t dry out as much as the breasts but you can definitely use breasts if it is your preference.
The best part of this meal though is rice as it gets infused with all the aromatic spices in the cooking process. It is also cooked in coconut milk, which gives the rice the most luscious texture and beautiful flavour.
Note: My timing in the recipe below is based on the dish cooked at 350F/180C in a cast iron pan covered with a lid. Oven temperatures vary, so for more accurate results I recommend buying a small oven thermometer to insure your temperature is always accurate!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 6-8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 3 cardamom pods slightly crushed (optional)
- 1 tsp chipotle paste
- 1 ½ tsp fish sauce
- 1 ½ cups/270g rice I used basmati rice
- 1 ½ to 2 tsp salt
- 1 3/4/440 ml cup water
- 14 oz/400ml can coconut milk
- 1 cup/200 g green beans cut in half
- fresh chopped cilantro/coriander
- unsweetened dessicated coconut optional
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 onion and ginger, cook for 5 minutes, then add garlic, cumin, cardamom pods and chipotle paste, cook while scraping the bottom of the pan and stirring the whole time for 1 minutes.
- Add rice and cook while stirring for 2 minutes, then add water, coconut milk, fish sauce and salt, stir to combine, turn up the heat and bring to a boil.
- Return the chicken to the pot, add the green beans, cover with a lid and put in the oven for 20 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.
- Serve sprinkled with chopped cilantro/coriander and a handful of unsweetened coconut flakes if desired.
