Middle Eastern (One-Pot) Chicken & Rice

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• 5-6 skin-on & bone-in chicken thighs

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (For frying not for marinate)

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

• 3 tablespoons turmeric

• 1.5 tablespoons cumin

• 1 tablespoon curry

• 2 tablespoons dried oregano

• 8 tablespoons garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

  For the rice:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 small white/yellow onion, finely chopped

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 2 cups basmati rice

• 3.5 cups chicken broth

• 2 tablespoons dried oregano

• 2 tablespoons turmeric

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• 1.5 teaspoons salt

Place the chicken in a resealable bag, add in the lemon juice and all of the ingredients listed under chicken, except the olive oil, to the chicken. Allow chicken to marinate for a minimum of 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a large oven safe skillet, I used my cast iron skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Place the chicken skin side down and brown the chicken, about 5-7 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan, set aside.

Remove bits from bottom of the pan, you don’t want any burned pieces in your rice. Add two tablespoons olive oil to the pan, it might not need much heating because the pan will be hot.

Add the onions to the pan and coat in the olive oil. Add the spices under the rice ingredients to the pan: oregano, turmeric and cumin. Saute the onions until they become translucent.

When translucent add the garlic and basmati rice, saute for about about 1 minute, just until the rice becomes golden.

Add the chicken broth, water, and the salt and bring the mixture to a simmer. Place the partially cooked chicken thighs directly on top of the simmering mixture. If the mixture stopped simmering after you added the chicken, allow to gently simmer again. Cover pot with a lid, (I do not have a lid that fits my large cast iron, so I placed a pizza pan on top of the skillet to cover it.) and transfer to oven to continue the cooking process.

Bake the chicken and rice in the oven covered in the oven for 30 minutes, remove the lid and continue to cook uncovered for another 15 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F and the liquid has been absorbed.

Allow chicken and rice to rest for about 15 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and “fluff”/mix the rice, add the chicken back on top of the chicken. Serve with naan and/or yogurt.