Weeknight Fancy Chicken and Rice Recipe (2024)

This was very tasty. I didn't have any star anise, so I added the standard cinnamon stick and bay leaf combo to the cardamom and also some cumin seed, coriander seed and mustard seed. The turmeric amount seemed skimpy, so I tripled that and am glad I did. I also added 2 sliced serrano peppers for some heat. One thing I might do differently next time is to add the rice before the broth and sauté it a bit before adding the broth, so that the rice grains don't stick together as much.

This is a simplified Chicken Biryani. The level of spice is for more timid Western tastes. You know what to do.

Cardamom pods can be bitter, so it's best to crush the pods, remove the seeds and discard the pods, using the seeds alone. They, and the star anise will be easy to remove after cooking if you wrap them in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it into a bundle with a piece of kitchen string before putting them in the pot.

My feeling is that this is an extremely under-seasoned recipe. Neither the cardamom nor the star anise have enough zip to elevate this beyond a very basic chicken and rice dish. Were I to cook this again, I would definitely want to add some chiles for a bit of heat, and perhaps some garam masala to amp up the spice.

As someone else mentioned, this is a simplified Chicken Biryani with the spices considerably reduced. Taking others' lead, I increased the amount of cardomom, tripled the turmeric, added cumin, and used Chinese 5-spice blend (which includes star anise) instead of the anise alone.but it was still too mild for me. Next time, some heat.As in all Indian cooking, you should remove the chicken skin. You must also wash (rinse) and soak the basmati for 30 minutes before adding it to the pan.

Is there something I can use as a substitute for the green cardamom pods?

Awesome dinner. Used 1 tsp garam marsala and 1 tsp ground cardamon with the onions, and skipped most of the salt.

Definitely worth it. Not difficult. Very tasty combination of spices. Have been using chicken thighs instead of breasts in all of my cooking with great results. I chop the thighs into 4 or 5 chunks, remove the skin and leave the bone. Result is always moist and flavorful. Not spicy and OK for just about everyone. The rice was perfectly cooked as well. I
had no apricots so I used dried quartered figs instead. Loved it.

Very easy and different enough from the usual chicken and rice to do now and again. Based on other comments, I used breast tenders cut in half and browned lightly before everything else, then set aside and added back when the rice was half cooked, so they were not dry. Also included about 2 tsp minced ginger, which was more than plenty. And used only 1 cup of rice which also increased flavor-fullness. Served with sliced mango and avocado, with lime to spritz all.

I didn't have cardamom pods so I substituted a teaspoon or so of ground cardamom. With that and the star anise it was quite flavorful. I wonder whether those who found it underseasoned were using older anise. Hot pepper would have taken it in a less desirable direction, I think. I sauteed some zucchini and onions with cumin and turmeric as a side.

From most helpful notes: add 2 diced serranos. Sub cinnamon stick for star anise. Add extra 1/2 times more spices including 1 tsp garam masala.Sauté rice first to separate grains. Check cooking time and liquids on bazamati and compare to recipe.

It’s very important to rinse the rice and soak it with cold water for a few hours or warm water for 1/2 hr. With brown rice I add mong lentil or brown split lentil, takes longer to cook also needs more broth( lentil has to be boiled, half way cooked and rinsed before adding to the mix) , hopefully

MW = microwave

It might be clear if you didn't substitute "mw" for English.

Excellent. Tossed in some spinach and added cumin and coriander. Level of effort is more Sunday night than weekday.

I loved this. Happen to have green cardamom pods which elevated the flavor nicely. Used anise seed in place of star anise. A squeeze of lime on top was nice.

This recipe turned out great and I will make again! Slight changes were made as noted, double the turmeric, used cinnamon stick as recommended in other notes, used 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom and added a 1/2 teaspoon of dried Serrano chili pepper. When the recipe was done, I folded into the rice/chicken mixture some steamed peas and sliced carrots.

I added sautéed asparagus (oil and clove of garlic) chopped up. Delicious addition!

This came together really nicely. I made lots of modifications based on others’ comments:I doubled the recipe to get more meals/leftovers out of it for the same effort. I added a good amount of cayenne pepper, chili powder, and hot curry powder. I added a handful of figs. I wanted more veg so I added about 1.5 c shredded carrot. I didn’t have chicken so I used frozen shrimp, which I quick-thawed under cool running water. I added the shrimp at the very end.

It was a tad bland. I had to add a lot more salt, and next time I make it, I will definitely double the alliums. Otherwise, the flavor profile was right on.

Hi All, when substituting spices/herbs it would be helpful to be more specific, indicating how much you added of each spice -1t., 1/2 t. etc. I couldn't find star anise and substituted using some of the suggestions in the reviews but had to guess at the quantity. Thanks!

This was easy and tasty but I found a bit dry so I added a glob of greek yogurt and it was much better. The night before we had cooked the NYTimes recipe for red curried lentils with sweet potato and spinach which as also delicious. The third night we decided to combine the two leftovers. Fabulous! The combination was better that the two original recipes. Still added the dollop of yogurt and some roasted pistachios and shredded coconut.

Triple turmeric?

Really good except for a strange burned flavor that I couldn’t identify. Cardamom, maybe?

Great crowd pleaser. I know some people were upset about this being a white washed chicken biryani but it’s a perfect gateway to introducing the old white man to seasoned, cultural food without upsetting their delicate stomachs

A am sad to say that this was a very disappointing meal. First of all, I am glad I chose to make this on a Sunday because it took 2 full hours from start to finish. There is nothing "quick" about this meal. Secondly, I doubled all of the herbs and spices, and even added a few of my own, such as asafoetida, cinnamon leaf and cloves. Still, it was bland. Lastly, and I find this to be a problem across most one pot rice meals, some of the rice was mushy while some was still undercooked. Bummer.

People seem to have issues with the rice. I have been cooking basmati rice for several years, starting with a technique from Cooks Illustrated (May/June 2019). Modified with advice from the manager of our Indian grocery. I buy the super long grain rice and soak for 30 minutes. Rinse a few times. Wake up the spices in the butter or ghee, then add the rice and cook until it turns golden. Add liquid and bring to a furious boil. Turn down to low for 15 minutes. Then let it rest for 15 minutes.

I made this almost exactly as written (veggie stock instead of chicken stock, and no almonds on hand), and found the star anise and cardamom to be overpowered by the salt. Everything was cooked through and I love the one-pot cleanup, so I’ll try again with some tweaks: I won’t sautée the onions as long (as written, they dissolved entirely into the dish), I’ll add some garam masala or five-spice powder as others have suggested to amp up the seasoning, and I’ll cut the salt in half.

Will make this again and punch up spices as others have recommended. Doubled the recipe for a large group. I love cooking rice and chicken in one pot!