Chicken Pulao is a fragrant, one-pot rice dish from Pakistani made with tender chicken, aromatic spices, and basmati rice. This recipe has no patience so I present to you a version that is almost as delicious as my mom's if you're pressed for time.
Tips to Make the Best Pulao
- Use Basmati Rice: Opt for aged basmati rice for that long, fluffy texture and delicate fragrance that is essential for a perfect pulao.
- Brown the Onions: The brownish hue to the pulao comes directly from the browned onions so take your time to color the onions just right.
- Cover the lid with a damp cloth: This technique is called giving "dum" to the dish by sealing in moisture. This creates steam that does not escape nesuring fluffy perfectly done rice. This technique is also used for Biryani.
Chicken Matar Pulao
Pakistani Pulao (pilaf) is a rice dish cooked in a season broth. The rice gets its brown hue from fried onions. This recipe calls for store-bought chicken stock to save time! Results are nothing less than delicious!
Ingredients
- ¼-1/2 cup oil
- 3 black cardamom
- 5 cloves whole
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 5 black peppercorns whole
- 2 red onion sliced
- 2 green chilis slit lengthwise
- 2 lbs chicken thighs boneless, skinless and cut into medium chunks
- 1 tablespoon ginger and garlic paste
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 3 cups chicken stock You may need ¾ cup more stock
- 2 cups Basmati rice pre-soaked
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup green peas
Instructions
- In a pot over medium heat, add oil and whole spices and let sizzle for 30 seconds.
- Next, add onions and fry for 25-30 minutes until brown on low to medium heat.
- After 30 mins, add green chilis, slit lengthwise and stir for 30 seconds,
- Add chicken along with ginger garlic paste and coriander powder and stir well until chicken pieces are coated in spices and onion, and is no longer pink.
- Next, add 1 cup of the chicken stock. Let it come to a boil, then cover the pot for 10 minutes to allow chicken to cook halfway through.
- After 10 mins, add rice along with the remaining stock (2 cups), green peas and plenty of salt. (More salt than normal because the rice will absorb the liquid.)
- After liquid comes to a boil, cover the pot and allow to simmer for 15-20 mins or until rice has absorbed most of the liquid.
- Next, drape the pot with a kitchen cloth and cover with the lid for 10-15 minutes on very low heat. This will seal the aroma and flavor and also finish cooking the rice.
- Serve hot with raita or chutney and some pickled onions.
Notes
- I find that for stock, the best ratio is double the amount of rice. So use 4 cups instead of 3 cups as listed above.
- This recipe calls for store-bought stock, but I have now been making it fresh and using the same chicken in the pulao. For fresh stock, add your chicken to 8 cups of boiling water along with a couple cloves, 1 black cardamom, an inch cinnamon, a bulb of garlic, ½ an onion. Let simmer for 20 minutes, remove the chicken and continue cooking the stock for another 10 minutes. The stock should have reduced to about 4-5 cups.
Azmina Virani
AMAZING!! My husband and I were both in shock at how simple and absolutely delicious this recipe was. We woke up next morning wanting it for breakfast! Haha. Can not wait to make it again!!
Rookie With A Cookie
it really is so simple especially when you're in a time crunch and can't make your own stock. I will do an updated version and show how I make the stock at home too. Thank you for the review on this Pulao:)
Bilal Ahmad Khalid
As an absolute rookie i always get stuck on the "salt to taste" part. Can never understand what to do here. Please help!!
Also, how can we manage the stock at home?
Rookie With A Cookie
That's totally understandable. The only reason I leave salt to taste is because people's salt preference varies widely. For the rice, the salt needs to have the taste of sea water if that makes sense. i would say starting with 1 1/2 tsp salt is good. I'll try updating the salt quantity next time I make this.
Fadiah Avais
I made pilau fro the first time in my life. Amazing! I’m a busy working woman and always look for quick recipes. This is the best recipe. Do you have more quick recipes?
Thankyou????
Rookie With A Cookie
Hi Fadiah! I'm so happy you tried and love it. A pro tip, if you want to make fresh yakhni, you can use the same recipe but add half of the whole spices to 5 cups of water and boil the chicken for 15-20 minutes. Then add the boiled chicken into the browned onion and proceed as normal (cutting down the extra time I added to cook the chicken because we pre-boiled it.) You will love this 10x more.
If you like a quick stir-fry, try the 10-min pad thai or beef chili.
Fadiah Avais
I made the pilau for the first time. It turned out amazing. Thankyou for this recipe. I’m a working woman and needs a quick food recipe. I love the pilau I made. ????
Rookie With A Cookie
So happy to hear that Fadiah. You can take this recipe and modify to make your own fresh stock as well. I plan to share this soon:)
Farheen
Hello! In line 3 of the recipe, it's supposed to be 30 seconds rather than 30 mins right?
Love your videos btw!
Rookie With A Cookie
Hi Farheen, 30 mins is right. The brown color of the pulao comes from the onion so it's critical to let the onions get nice and brown in color. Hope this helps!:)
Raja Omer
How is your rice cooked so quickly in 15-20 mins? I have to cook at at-least 30-40 mins and that too at high heat?
Thanks!
Rookie With A Cookie
Hey Raja, 40 mins seems a bit too much for Basmati rice. The rice I use cooks in about 20 mins but I would recommend that you follow liquid to rice ratio that you have tried and tested. Hope this helps!