Arabic rice with chicken, almonds and raisins

This Arabic rice dish with chicken comes from Marley Spoon’s food box. Together with eight refugees, the meal delivery service has added dishes from their countries of origin to the menu. All profits from the meals go to Über den Tellerrand.

Azad fled the political unrest and violence in Syria. He lived briefly in Turkey, Jordan, Russia and Vietnam, and has now been living in Germany for several months. Since then, he has been cooking with the refugee organisation Über den Tellerand.  His favourite dish is called Kabsa in Syria. The aroma and flavour of this dish remind him of his home in Syria.

Prepare the vegetables
Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Peel the carrot and cut it into  cubes of approximately 1 centimetre. Cut the tomatoes into small cubes. Pat the meat dry and cut it into pieces of approximately 2 centimetres.

Brown the chicken
Heat a medium-sized saucepan with 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Fry the onion until translucent, about 3–5 minutes. Then add the meat, tomato purée, tomatoes, carrot and garlic, and fry everything for another 5 minutes.

Cook the rice
Meanwhile, bring 300 ml of water and a pinch of salt to the boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Then add the rice and bring everything back to the boil. Turn the heat to the lowest setting. Cook with the lid on for approximately 10–12 minutes, without removing the lid from the pan. Then remove from the heat and leave to stand for another 5 minutes.

Add water
After the meat and vegetables have cooked for 5 minutes, add the spice mixture (cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick) and 350ml of water. Then allow everything to reduce over medium-high heat for approximately 15–20 minutes, until the vegetables and meat are tender but still firm and the sauce has thickened slightly.

Toast the almonds
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan without oil over medium-high heat. Toast the almonds in it until golden brown, stirring constantly. Be careful, as the almonds can burn quickly. Roughly chop the coriander.

Finish the rice
As soon as the rice is cooked, fluff it with a fork. Mix the rice with the almonds and raisins. Season the chicken curry to taste with a pinch of salt, pepper and sugar, and serve with the rice. Sprinkle everything with coriander.

Source: MarleySpoon.nl