Stranger Foods

Photograph of Puerto rican chicken and rice.

CaribbeanPuerto rican chicken and rice

Serves 4 | Prep 15 mins | Cook 45 mins

This is one of my favourites. The colours are wonderful and, when you take it out of the oven, you just want to get stuck in. Scrumptious. Similar to Spanish paella, it is a dish that just looks after itself. Don't be tempted to stir - just let the pot do the work on its own.

Source: Caribbean Food Made Easy

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

175 g basmati rice
3 tbsp sunflower oil
8 chicken pieces (a mixture of thighs and drumsticks
2 tbsp all-purpose seasoning
salt and pepper
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 green pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
6 allspice berries, crushed
1½ tsp turmeric
2 cm piece of root ginger, finely chopped
1 hot red chilli, sliced into thin rings (seeds left in)
600 ml chicken stock
3 sprig thyme
2 bay leaves
100 g pitted green olives, ideally stuffed with pimento
lime wedges, to serve

Instructions

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Wash the rice in a large bowl, changing the water until it runs clear. Heat the oil in a casserole dish. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with the all-purpose seasoning and salt and pepper and brown them well on all sides (you don't need to cook it through at this point). Take the chicken out of the pan and set aside. Add the onion, peppers and garlic to the same pan and saute over a medium heat until the peppers are softening. Add the allspice, turmeric, ginger and chilli and cook for a minute, stirring.
If you are using a casserole dish, reintroduce the chicken and continue to cook in this. If using a frying pan, transfer everything to an oven-proof dish; it must be big enough to accommodate al the chicken in a single layer.
Pour the rice around the chicken, pour over the stock, add the thyme and bay leaves and season everything really well. If cooking on the hob, continue to simmer gently over a low heat for . If cooking in the oven, cook for at 190°C/gas 5. When it is cooked all the stock should be absorbed, the top golden and the chicken cooked through. You don't need to stir the rice of cover it or do anything with the dish as it cooks.
Scatter on the olives about before the end of the cooking time. Serve with wedges of lime for squeezing over.

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