Baked Chicken Pilav Recipe
There are hundreds, even thousands, of dishes that can be made with chicken around the world. I have cooked plenty of chicken dishes myself over the years. On most of the days when I think, “I’ll make chicken today,” but don’t have a particular recipe in mind, I usually make chicken and rice. It is one of the least labor-intensive dishes in the world, while also being filling, nutritious, and economical.
If I have the time and feel like putting in the effort, my first choices are usually poulet yassa or rfissa. But if I have the time and energy, I usually prefer trying a new recipe or filming a recipe that I am planning to share as a video. So, when we eat chicken, we generally have either chicken dishes we are trying for the first time or chicken and rice. And since I sometimes make chicken and rice the classic way and sometimes bake it in the oven, I never make it often enough to get tired of it.
Büryan, Kapama, and Chicken and Rice
Perhaps I should have started the post with this. What is the difference between baked chicken and rice, büryan, and chicken kapama?
The difference between chicken and rice and büryan is that büryan contains onions and the rice is sautéed before being added. The difference between chicken and rice and chicken kapama is that chicken kapama contains onions and tomato paste, the chicken is fried, and the rice is sautéed.
For many people, if the ingredients are more or less the same, it means you are making the same dish. But that is not how things work in gastronomy. Tiny changes in ingredients can lead to significant differences in flavor and, consequently, to different names for the dishes. That is exactly the case with these three dishes.
Why Is There No Oil?
Another difference between baked chicken and rice, büryan, and chicken kapama is that no oil is used in baked chicken and rice.
By the way, this is simply my personal preference. Like many mothers, my mother used to cook with quite a lot of oil. Since she was my first teacher in the kitchen, I also used a lot of oil when I first started cooking. Over time, my awareness of nutrition increased and I began to develop my own preferences.
As part of this process, I realized that we often use more oil in cooking than we actually need. For example, if a dessert recipe contains tahini or peanut butter, there is no need to add extra oil. Half of these ingredients are already pure fat. And if, like me, you prefer to eat somewhat less fatty food, there is simply no need for more.
The same applies to chicken and rice. The fat from the chicken stock is enough to provide all the fat I need in the rice. But if that is not enough for you, you can add as much butter or olive oil as you like before putting the dish in the oven.
Enjoy...
Ingredients
- 1 small whole chicken (around 1 kg),
- 1 cup rice,
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas,
- 2 cups chicken stock (the water in which you boiled the chicken),
- Salt,
- 3 bay leaves,
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns.
Preparation
- Place the chicken in a pressure cooker, add enough water to cover it, along with the bay leaves and whole black peppercorns,
- Close the lid and cook until the chicken is tender,
- Remove the chicken from the cooking liquid, place it in a suitably sized baking dish, and cut it into large pieces,
- Add the washed and drained rice, chickpeas, chicken stock, and salt,
- Cover the dish with a sheet of parchment paper that has been moistened with water,
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) until the liquid has been absorbed,
- Remove the parchment paper and bake for another 10 minutes, then take it out of the oven.
Enjoy...