Turmeric chicken drumstick pulao
The difference between a pulao and biryani is that biryani is usually layers of cooked rice, while for pulao the rice and other ingredients are cooked together.
Ingredients
6 Lilydale free range chicken drumsticks
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
¼ cup ghee or vegetable oil
1 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1½ tbsp Keen’s curry powder
3 cups basmati rice
2 tomatoes, finely diced
½ cup chopped coriander
lemon wedges, to serve
thick yoghurt, to serve
Method
Place the chicken into a large bowl and add the turmeric and ½ tsp of the salt. Rub to cover the chicken and set aside for 30 minutes.
Heat your oven to 175C (fan). Heat a large, low casserole dish over medium heat and add the ghee (or oil). Fry the chicken until browned all over and remove from the pan. Add ¾ of the onion and fry for about 5 minutes until browned. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute until fragrant. Add the mustard seeds, curry powder and bay leaves and fry for just a few seconds until fragrant. Add ¾ of the tomatoes and all the rice and mix in the spices. Spread the rice over the base of the pan and add the chicken back on top. Add 2 cups of water (or stock) and the remaining salt (or to taste). Bring to a simmer and cover. Transfer to the oven for 20 minutes, then remove and stand for a further 10 minutes.
Uncover, then scatter with the remaining onion and tomato, and the chopped coriander. Serve with lemon wedges and yoghurt.
Three cups of rice to two cups of liquid? Even cut back to two cups of rice it was dry.
1 1/2 tbsp of Keens curry powder, cut back to 1 1/2 level dessertspoons the curry powder was still too strong.
My wife described it as “a failed recipe”. I was expecting better and will approach these recipes with considerable scepticism in future.