Indian Spice Chicken and Tomato Rice

This is a labor intensive dish. If you do some prep the day before helps and the rewards are so worth it!
Do all the chop, chop, chopping a day ahead and store in the frig. When prepping ginger; use a spoon to scrap off the peeling and a grater to finish the job. Watch your fingers though!

The grated ginger leftovers maybe frozen successfully for later use. I always have chopped cilantro, parsley, rosemary and thyme in my freezer. Extra work initially, but handy when needed. Put together the spices ahead of time, sear your chicken, cool, refrigerate and the next day you will be ready to go!
I did not do much tweaking of the original; however I mistakenly bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs. The 3 pounds chicken seemed a bit much for the sauce, so I added about 1 1/2 pound of the chicken. If I had used the thighs, may end up adding all 3 pounds. I seared all 3 pounds of the chicken, freezing the remaining 1 1/2 pounds for future dishes. I also added the remaining yogurt to the rice (from a 6 ounce plain Greek yogurt) and added 2 tablespoons of the crushed can tomatoes set aside from the spiced chicken recipe. Also, I like shallots instead of onions. Serve this flavorful dish with fresh grated carrot and chopped celery.  The original recipe is from eat-drink-smile.com Serves 4-6, depending how hungry!

Ingredients for Spiced Chicken:

• 3 pounds boneless, skinless thighs ( seared and cut into cubes)
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes (reserve 2 tablespoons for Tomato Rice)
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 green cardamon pods (crushed)
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
• coarse salt

Directions for Searing Chicken:

Wash chicken in cold water and dry on paper towels. Salt and pepper both sides.

Add about 1-2 tablespoons grapeseed oil to a large skillet and heat on medium high.  Add 3-4 pieces of the chicken, not crowding the pieces and sear for 5 minutes per side. Set aside to cool and cut into desired size pieces. 

Directions for Spiced Chicken Sauce:

Heat 1-2 tablespoon canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add cinnamon stick, crushed cardamon pods, cloves and bay leaf. Stir for one minute. Add the shallots and crushed tomato and cook about 10 minutes.

Add the ginger, garlic, turmeric, red pepper flakes and cumin. Cook this mixture down until all moisture has evaporated; so sauce resembles more of a paste. At this point I fished out the cardamon pods and whole cloves, leaving the bay leaf.

Add the yogurt and chicken broth. Salt to taste. 

Add the chicken pieces and simmer for 35-45 minutes until chicken is very tender.

Squeeze juice of lime and add cilantro to finish the sauce.

Ingredients for Tomato Rice:

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoon ghee or unsalted butter
• 1 small shallot, chopped
• 2 cardamon pods, crushed
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons of the reserved crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• coarse salt
• Greek plain yogurt ( left over from Indian Spice Sauce)

Directions for Tomato Rice

In a medium saucepan melt the ghee or butter over medium heat. Add the shallot, cardamon, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf and cook until onions soften. Add the rice and toss with the spices to coat well. 

Add the water and reserved crushed tomato and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes. Remove from heat and leave lid on an additional 10 minutes.

Finish with salt, fresh cilantro and remaining Greek yogurt. Mix well with a fork.