Turmeric Chicken with Pomegranate Rice
Chicken so tender it falls off the bone. Rice so savory you’ll wish you made double the amount. A presentation so lovely with its red pomegranate seeds and crispy green onions that everyone oohs and ahs!
This slow cooked chicken and rice uses Middle Eastern spices and is a great choice for the Jewish New Year, when pomegranates are a traditional fruit, the many seeds representing the good deeds required from all of us. The red and green are also great for Christmas dinners—I’ll remind you then!
Recipe is below.
Foodie Lit
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You might think this is a popular paranormal novel. But no! This is Geraldine Brown Giomblanco’s memoir. Signs and symbols, religious and personal, appear in her life, with angels guiding her safely through. You’ll find yourself routing for Geraldine.
Turmeric Chicken with Pomegranate Rice
Serves 6
Chicken
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/4 teaspoon cumin
3/4 tsp cardamom
3/4 tsp cinnamon
6-8 pieces of chicken, bone in and skin on
Rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
1 cup brown or mixed rice (red, wild or white)
1 1/2 cups broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup slivered almonds
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Mix together turmeric, cumin, cardamon and cinnamon. Then dredge chicken pieces in this spice mixture. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until chicken is browned and no longer pink inside. Remove chicken from skillet and reserve.
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Add 1 additional tablespoon olive oil, onions and garlic to chicken pan and cook, stirring often, until softened and slightly browned.
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Add rice to onions in skillet and stir together. Add chicken pieces back in and snuggle them into rice. Add broth and wine and bring to boil.
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Reduce heat to simmer and cook, partially covered about 30 minutes. Add more broth if needed. Remove from heat; season with salt and pepper. Cover and let stand for a few minutes. Fluff rice with a fork. Mix in pomegranate seeds with the rice. Garnish with additional pomegranate seeds and almonds.
Expandthetable suggestions
Vegan: Substitute 8 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and sliced, and 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced, instead of chicken. Add the bell pepper in to sauté with the onions. Sauté mushrooms separately until the juices are released and the mushrooms are slightly browned. Remove from pan and reserve. Add mushrooms back in after you remove the mixture from the stove, mix in gently and then add the pomegranate seeds and almonds for garnish.
Allium free: Omit onions and garlic. Substitute 1 fennel bulb and slice thinly.
Nut free: Omit almonds and use piñolis. (pine nuts)
Veal: Use veal chunks instead of chicken and reduce simmering time to 15-18 minutes.
Spicier: Add 1 cup pitted green olives, sliced with 1 tablespoon of the brine
Grains: Instead of rice, use barley. Orzo or farrow, following the recipe. If you try couscous, cook separately in broth.
#chickenand rice; #Jewish New Year; #pomegranates; #slowcooking
