Party of four

6 weeks into our big East Coast move, M and I have taken the next step in co-habitation: hosting dinner parties. This is a completely novel thing for both of us; our previous apartments were barely big enough to fit our couches, desks and bookcases, let alone matching, crack-less dishes to serve guests in a dignified way.

Hosting friends for dinner is extremely fun but also a bit daunting. It’s a great excuse to try out new dishes and experiment with cooking more elaborate meals, but there is always the terrifying possibility that dinner may not turn out as well as hoped, or at all. Thankfully, we had A to vouch for the deliciousness of a recipe in our current favourite cookbook, ‘Jerusalem’. The one-pot main that we decided to serve last night was actually quite simple to make, requiring minimal prep time beyond the caramelization of the onions. The rice, chicken and spices are all cooked together on a low heat, which gives the rice a deeper, meatier flavour, and brings the spiciness of the cardamom to the gustatory forefront. Caramelized onions and currants, together with broken cinnamon sticks, round out the dish with an unexpected sweetness, which was lovely with a bit of tart Greek yogurt. We served dinner with a fresh salad (also from ‘Jerusalem’) of cucumbers, red peppers, tomatoes, radishes, parsley, cilantro and red onion in a light olive oil and lemon dressing with roasted spiced chickpeas.

Chicken with caramelized onion and cardamom rice

Modified slightly from ‘Jerusalem’ by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Ingredients

-       2 ½ tbsp dried currants

-       4 tbsp olive oil

-       2 medium onions, sliced thinly

-       2 ¼ lbs (1 kg) skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

-       10 cardamom pods

-       Rounded ¼ tsp whole cloves

-       2 long cinnamon sticks, broken in 2

-       1 2/3 cups basmati rice

-       2 ¼ cups boiling water

-       1/3 cup Greek yogurt (optional)

1.     Heat half of the olive oil in a large sauté pan with a lid over medium heat, add onions and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn a deep golden brown. Transfer to a small bowl and wipe the pan clean.

2.     Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl and season with 1 ½ tsp each salt and pepper. Add the remaining olive oil, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and use your hands to mix everything together well.

3.     Heat the frying pan again and place the chicken and spices in it. Sear for 5 minutes on each side, and remove from the pan (this is important as it part-cooks the chicken). The spices can stay in the pan, but don’t worry if they stick to the chicken.

4.     Remove most of the remaining olive oil, leaving just a thin film at the bottom. Add the rice, caramelized onion, 1 tsp salt, and plenty of black pepper. Add the currants and the chicken, pushing the chicken into the rice.

5.     Pour boiling water over the rice and chicken, cover the pan, and cook over a very low heat for 30 minutes. Take the pan off the heat, remove the lid, quickly place a clean towel over the pan, and seal again with the lid. Leave the dish undisturbed for 10 more minutes.

6.     Remove lid and fluff rice with a fork; add more salt and pepper to taste and serve with a dollop or two of Greek yogurt.