Meat mains
Chicken paprikash with tomato and cumin rice
A reference to When Harry Met Sally 'waiter, there's too much pepper on my paprikash'). It's a simple but tasty dish, with chicken (or any meat for that matter) in a pepper and paprika sauce. Served here with tomato and cumin rice.
Cook's notes
Please note, brown rice does still have quite a bite to it once cooked. At the end of cooking you want almost all the added liquid to be absorbed. Add any extra liquid sparingly. It will depend on the size of your pan and the hob heat. Don't worry if you find you've too much at the end. You can quickly boil off any excess if needs be, it doesn't take long.
Ingredients
- 2 onions
- oil for frying e.g. sunflower or light olive
- 150g brown basmati rice
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 large garlic clove
- handful fresh parsley
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 low salt vegetable stock cube
- 300g diced chicken breast
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp soured cream
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Peel and finely chop the onions. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan. Add the chopped onion. Cook gently for 10 minutes to soften, stirring now and then. If they look like catching at any point, add a splash of water.
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Step 2
While the onion is cooking, rinse the rice in a sieve. Halve, deseed and finely dice the peppers, about 1-2cm. Peel and finely chop or crush 1 large garlic clove. Wash the parsley. After 10 minutes, transfer half the onion to a plate or bowl. Keep to one side.
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Step 3
Add the cumin to the remaining onion. Stir for 1 minute. Add the rice and tinned tomatoes (keep the tin). Crumble in half the stock cube. Refill the tomato tin 1½ times with water.
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Step 4
Add the water to the rice. Season with salt and pepper. Hang on to the tin, you'll need it again later. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook on a low-medium boil for 15-20 minutes, until the rice is just tender. Stir regularly to prevent it from sticking.
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Step 5
Add a splash more water now and then if needed to stop the rice drying out (see cook's note). Once the rice starts to cook, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan. Add the chicken.
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Step 6
Fry until lightly browned. Transfer the chicken to the plate or bowl with the reserved onion. Add the peppers to the same frying pan. Stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato purée and paprika. Stir for 2 minutes. Add the chicken and onion back to the pan. Stir for 1 minute. Crumble in the remainder of the stock cube. Add half the tomato tin of water.
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Step 7
Season with salt and pepper. Bring up to a low, simmering boil. Cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, roughly chop the parsley leaves. Lower the heat slightly. Take a piece of chicken out and cut it open to check it's cooked through (no pink juices remain).
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Step 8
Cook for a couple more minutes if needs be. Once the chicken is cooked, take the pan off the heat. Add the soured cream and most of the parsley. Stir them in. Check the seasoning. Serve with the rice, sprinkled with the rest of the parsley.