Pilau is essentially a flavorful rice dish where the rice and meat are cooked together with spices until everything is perfectly done. Since rice cooks faster than meat, you start by cooking the meat with spices. Once the meat is almost done or halfway there, you add the rice, pour in more water, and let everything finish cooking together in one pot until the water evaporates.
When you hear “pilau,” it usually means beef pilau, but there’s also chicken pilau, which isn’t as common. This recipe is a straightforward, step-by-step guide to making chicken pilau, keeping it as simple as possible with easy-to-find ingredients and no unnecessary steps. Let’s get into it
If you’re wondering what the difference is between pilau and biryani, I’ve got you covered. Check out a post I wrote a while back where I compare the two dishes—they’re pretty similar, so it’s easy to mix them up.
Read: Swahili Pilau Recipe: Pilau ya Nyama
Ingredients
- 1/2 Chicken
- 2 Cups Basmati Rice
- 4 Cups Water
- 50g Whole Pilau Mix Spices
- 2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
- Salt
- 2 Large Tomatoes
- 1 Large Onion
- 1 Bunch Fresh Dhania/Coriander/Cilantro (to garnish)
- 5 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Thumb Ginger
- 1 Tbs Tomato Paste
The ingredient list isn’t too bad, honestly. You probably already have most of what you need in your kitchen, except maybe the pilau mix. You can either buy that pre-made or mix up your own if you’ve got the individual spices.
The whole spices that make pilau mix are cumin, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamons, and cloves, adjust the proportions to your liking although cumin seeds should make up half of the mix, and cardamons, cloves, black pepper, and cinnamon should make up the other half.
Also Read: Spice Essentials For Your Kenyan Kitchen: A Comprehensive Guide
As for the chicken, you can use any part you like, but the best approach is to get a whole chicken and cut it up yourself. Use the back pieces for the pilau, and save the breasts and thighs for other recipes.
If you’ve got ginger garlic paste on hand, you won’t need separate garlic and ginger since we’ll be turning those into a paste for this recipe anyway.
Tomato paste is optional but recommended for adding a richer flavor. I didn’t have any on hand, and it still turned out great.
You can use any oil, but skip the flavored ones like olive oil since they’ll change the dish’s taste. Neutral oils like sunflower or canola work just fine.
Basmati is the best rice variety for pilau or biryani, so I strongly insist on using it. Other types like pishori or jasmine don’t give the best results.
For rice brand recommendations check out this post: Grocery Guide: 10 Best Rice Brands in Kenya-Ranked List
Alright, enough of the prep talk—let’s get into it
Procedure
Start by prepping the chicken if you’re working with whole pieces. Since pilau can use any part, I usually go for the back pieces and save the thighs and legs for my favorite air fryer teriyaki chicken legs recipe.
Cut the chicken into medium-sized pieces—not too big but not tiny cubes either. And please, don’t wash your chicken, just prep it and cook it as is. You can choose to remove the skin or leave it on; I personally like to keep the skin on.
In a dry pot, lightly toast your spices, keeping an eye on them because they can burn quickly. Once they become somewhat aromatic, add the vegetable oil and let the spices cook in it for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Then, add your chicken pieces, salt them lightly, and coat them well in the spicy oil mixture.
While the chicken is cooking, slice your onions, and if you don’t have ginger garlic paste, make some by crushing ginger and garlic with a pestle and mortar, or use a food processor or blender.
Cook the chicken until it’s golden brown and has a nice crust before moving on to the next step.
Next, add the sliced onions from earlier and mix them in. Cover the pot and let the onions sweat until they turn translucent. After that, add your ginger garlic paste and cook it for about 30 seconds to a minute, making sure it doesn’t burn.
Then, toss in your tomato slices, lightly salt them to help them break down faster, and cover the pot to keep everything from drying out. Let it cook for about two to four minutes. (If you using tomato paste, now would be a good time to add it in)
Once your tomatoes are broken down and jammy, it’s time to wash your rice until the water runs clear. You can also do this ahead of time and let the rice soak if you want your pilau to cook faster.
Before adding the rice, taste the tomato mixture and the liquid to ensure they’re a bit salty. If needed, add a little more salt, but be careful not to overdo it since we’ve already added salt twice before.
After adding the rice, top it up with water, keeping in mind the rice-to-water ratio. In this case, since you’re using two cups of rice, you’ll need four cups of water. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and let it simmer until all the water is absorbed.
Once the rice has absorbed all the water and is dry, turn off the heat. Cover the pot with aluminum foil and let it sit for 10 minutes.
This allows the rice to finish cooking with the remaining moisture and helps the flavors really settle in and infuse into the rice even better.
After that, feel free to serve! If you want, you can add some extra garnishes at this point. This is where you use the coriander from the ingredients list—it adds a pop of color and gives the dish a fresh finish. But this step is optional, so you can skip it if you prefer.
Chicken Pilau
Equipment
- 1 Pestle & Mortar/ Food Processor/Blender
- Aluminium Foil
Ingredients
- 1/2 Chicken
- 2 Cups Basmati Rice
- 4 Cups Water
- 50 g Whole Pilau Mix Spices
- 2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
- Salt
- 2 Large Tomatoes
- 1 Large Onion
- 1 Bunch Fresh Dhania/Coriander/Cilantro to garnish
- 5 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Thumb Ginger
- 1 Tbs Tomato Paste
Instructions
- Toast spices in a dry pot until aromatic.
- Add vegetable oil and cook spices for 30 seconds.
- Add chicken pieces, coat in the spiced oil, and cook until golden brown.
- Slice onions and prepare ginger garlic paste (if needed).
- Add onions to the pot, cover, and cook until translucent.
- Stir in ginger garlic paste and cook for 30 seconds to a minute.
- Add tomato slices, lightly salt, cover, and cook for 2-4 minutes.
- Wash rice until water runs clear, then add to the pot.
- Add water (2 cups rice = 4 cups water), reduce heat, and simmer covered until water is absorbed.
- Turn off the heat, cover the pot with aluminum foil, and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Serve, optionally garnishing with coriander for color and freshness.
Notes
One downside to using whole spices is that you might end up biting into something like cardamom or black pepper, which can mess with the taste. You can either pick them out when serving or just eat around them.
Sure, you could crush the spices or grind them into a powder, but the flavor won’t be as bold. Whole spices are definitely the way to go
Nutritional Facts
Pilau calories per serving: 588 kcal
Here’s the calorie breakdown per ingredient:
Tomato Paste: 12.3 calories
Chicken: 1673 calories
Basmati Rice: 1428 calories
Vegetable Oil: 265.2 calories
Tomatoes: 54 calories
Onion: 60 calories
Garlic: 22.35 calories
Ginger: 16 calories
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Will make this tonight you make it look simple haha, thanks🙏