Hainanese Or Lebanese?

When it comes to chicken rice, Hainanese Chicken Rice immediately pops into my head. So I was very amused to see this Lebanese Chicken Rice, a one pot meal which is delicious and full of aromatic spices.

It gave me a chance to use the allspice that I bought to make Jerk Chicken (which hasn't happened yet). Cooking this chicken rice made me think of the Ricepot Chicken Rice which I haven't cooked in a long time.

This exotic recipe comes from Chef Wan's Simply Sedap and is another one of the many recipes that I bookmarked to try. 

The recipe calls for canned Italian tomatoes but let me tell you that I do not like canned tomatoes. To me, the smell and taste is awful >.<

I once threw out a pot of stew because I could not accept the taste imparted by the canned tomatoes. So, no more canned tomatoes for me. For this recipe, I just added an extra tablespoon of tomato puree.

Just like the Jamaican Beef Pilaf that I cooked previously, this made for many portions which I kept frozen in my trusty freezer.

Lebanese Chicken Rice

Recipe source : Adapted from Simply Sedap (page 52)

Ingredients :

- 400g chicken pieces

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

- 1 tsp ground black pepper

- 1 tsp allspice

- 2 tsp paprika

- 1 tsp salt

- 1/4 cup blanched almonds

- 1 big onion, finely chopped

- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

- 1" cinnamon stick

- 3 cardamoms

- 2 dried bay leaves

- 3 tbsp tomato puree

- 1 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup raisins

- a handful of coriander leaves, chopped (and more for garnishing)

- 2 cups basmati rice, soaked for 10 minutes and rinsed

- 3 cups water (or chicken stock)

- Enough Olive oil

- 1 tbsp butter

Method :

1. Marinate chicken with cinnamon powder, black pepper, allspice, paprika and salt overnight (or a few hours).

2. Heat oil and butter in pan and fry almonds until brown, Set aside.

3. In the same oil, fry the marinated chicken until browned. Set aside.

4. Add more oil if necessary and saute onions, garlic, cinnamon, cardamoms and bay leaves until onion start to caramelize.

5. Add tomato puree, salt and chicken. Stir to mix evenly.

6. Add rice, raisins and coriander leaves.

7. Transfer to rice cooker and cook as you would usually do.

8. Once cooked, fluff the rice and garnish with fried almonds before serving.