If there’s any chicken and rice recipe you ever try, it needs to be this tandoori chicken with saffron zeera rice. Paired with a yogurt sauce and a fresh salad, this makes for a hearty meal that is packed with flavor and well-balanced with proteins, greens, fibers and carbs.
I wish I could tell you that one part of this recipe outshines the other but to be honest, the rice is incredible on its own and the chicken melts in your mouth. So aside from each element being delicious, when combined together it creates a chicken and rice meal of your dreams.
What Do You Need For The Tandoori Chicken
- Chicken thighs: I cannot stress enough how important it is to you use thighs over any other cut.
- Yogurt: This forms the base of our marinade.
- Tandoori spices: You can find a spice mix in most stores. I use the Shan Tandoori Masala mix.
- Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice tenderizes your chicken and allows the flavors to infuse better.
What Do You Need For The Saffron Rice
- Long grain rice: Good quality long-grain rice is essential. I use basmati rice for this recipe.
- Saffron: Good quality saffron is key to this recipe. You can also substitute for saffron bullion cubes.
- Chicken stock: A chicken bullion cube works just as well, too.
- Cumin (zeera): Use whole cumin seeds instead of ground to get all the flavor.
What Sides To Prepare
I paired this recipe with a fresh cucumber and tomato salad. I follow a classic salad recipe that my mom always made when I was growing up. It’s super simple and uses fresh ingredients and really adds a burst of flavor to your meal. Simply cut up some tomatoes, cucumbers and parsley or coriander (whichever one you prefer) in a bowl. Add some salt and fresh lemon juice. And voila, that is it.
I also made a spicy yogurt sauce on the side. Growing up, my mom always served yogurt with any meal that had rice. And now, living in Turkey, I’ve continued to incorporate yogurt very seriously into my diet. You can serve plain yogurt as well. However, a raita or cacik or tzatziki sauce would be so much more flavorful to the meal.
How Long Does This Tandoori Chicken w/ Saffron Zeera Rice Take
Honestly, you can prepare everything for this recipe in parallel. I started by soaking my rice first. Next I moved on to marinate the chicken. While the chicken marinated, I started on my salad an yogurt sauce sides. After those were done, I cooked my rice and chicken side by side.
In total, it took less than an hour for the entire meal to be ready.
TRY THESE HOT LEMON PEPPER CHICKEN SKEWERS NEXT!
Tandoori Chicken w/ Saffron Zeera Rice
2
servings25
minutes20
minutesKeep your device screen on
Ingredients
- For the tandoori chicken
4 boneless chicken thighs
2 tbsp yogurt
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp tandoori masala spice mix
3 tbsp oil (for cooking)
- For the saffron zeera rice
2 cups long-grain rice
4 cups water
1 chicken bullion stock cube
8 -10 sprigs of saffron (or 1 saffron bullion stock cube)
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
2 tbsp oil (to cook)
- For the salad
2 medium tomatoes
2 medium cucumbers
1 whole lemon
8 -10 sprigs of coriander or parsley
salt to taste
- For the yogurt sauce
1 cup yogurt
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 spicy green chilies (finely chopped)
salt to taste
Directions
- For the tandoori chicken
- Place your clean chicken thighs in a bowl.
- Add the lemon juice, yogurt and tandoori masala spice mix.
- Using your hands, massage your thighs well under they are fully covered in the marinade. Set aside for at least 20 mins.
- After your chicken has marinated, place a skillet over medium-high flame and add your oil.
- Once the oil starts smoking, place your chicken thighs in the hot pan. We want a nice sear to form.
- Sear for about 4 minutes on each side.
- Now, using a sharp knife cut up your chicken thighs into strips to help them cook through. You can add half a teaspoon of tandoori masala spice mix if you’d like.
- Cook your chicken thigh strips for another 8-10 minutes until fully cooked.
- For the saffron zeera rice
- Wash and soak your long-grain rice for 20-30 minutes to allow the grains to expand. Soaking your rice helps them fluff up better while cooking.
- In a pain, add your oil and cumin seeds.
- Once your cumin seeds change color and turn fragrant, add your rice, water, saffron and chicken bullion cube.
- Cook on a high flame until the water evaporates and reaches the same level as the rice.
- Now, reduce the flame to low-medium heat and cover your rice.
- Cook for 10-15 minutes until the rice is fluffy and fully cooked through.
- For the salad
- In a bowl, cut up your tomatoes and cucumbers into small bite-sized pieces.
- Chop up your coriander or parsley and add them too.
- Next, squeeze a whole lemon over the salad and add a dash of salt to taste.
- For the yogurt sauce
- In a bowl, add your yogurt and water. Mix well until you have a creamy smooth texture with no lumps.
- Now add your ground cumin, finely chopped chilies and some salt to taste.
- Mix well to combine.
- Serve
- Use a large serving plate to add your rice, chicken, salad and yogurt sauce.
- Enjoy the best chicken and rice recipe you’ll ever taste.
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