Chicken and Rice Bake
A super-easy one-tin chicken bake recipe from Nadiya's Family Favourites, this dish of chicken and spiced rice is sure to be a hit with the whole family.
From the book
Nadiya’s Family Favourites
Tasty midweek meal ideas
Easy ideas to feed a crowd
Showstopping cakes and bakes
Introduction
This savoury traybake recipe gives me so much joy. All the magic happens in the oven, leaving no mess to clear up on the stove. Because the rice is cooked in the tray, you end up with lovely toasted bits as well as fluffy grains. And the chicken, rubbed with spices, is cooked right on top. All it needs is the family to eat it, and they are never too far away.
Ingredients
| For the rice: | |
| oil, for greasing | |
| 1 | large onion, finely diced |
| 3 | cloves of garlic, chopped |
| 50g | clarified butter, melted (or butter) |
| 270g | basmati rice |
| 2 | cardamom pods, seeds only |
| 650ml | hot chicken stock (or boiling water) |
| 200g | frozen peas |
| 1 | large handful of fresh coriander, chopped |
| For the chicken: | |
| 8 | chicken drumsticks, with skin on |
| 2 tbsp | oil |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 1 tsp | garlic powder |
| 1 tsp | onion powder |
| 1 tsp | cayenne pepper |
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6. Lightly grease a large roasting tray and put in the onion and garlic. Drizzle over the melted butter and give the onion a stir. Bake for 10–15 minutes, making sure it doesn’t begin to burn. Keep an eye on it – if the edges are catching too quickly, take the tray out and give it all another stir before putting it back in.
While the onion is cooking, rub the drumsticks with the oil and mix the salt, garlic, onion and cayenne in a bowl. Cover the drumsticks all over with the spicy rub.
Take out the tray of onion and add the rice and cardamom seeds. Stir the rice into the onion mix and put the drumsticks on top. Pour in the stock. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Take out of the oven, lift the chicken drumsticks on to a side plate, then add the peas to the rice and lightly stir them through. Replace the chicken pieces and bake without the foil for another 15 minutes.
Stir in the chopped coriander and serve.
