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Hello there! If you’ve ever been to my house and had a meal, it was probably this exact meal — rice and chicken, made by the best cook in the world, Momma Asirvatham. It’s seriously the classic meal. We eat it ALL the freakin’ time because it’s sooo easy to make (according to mom), easy to please, and you can turn the spice up super high or not.

However, if you’ve tried to grab a copy of this recipe from my mom, it’s near impossible. She, like every other amazing cook out there, doesn’t measure any of her ingredients and will just put things into the pot without even telling me. There’s no exact heat, no exact ingredients, nothing.

BUT HERE WE GO. On Sunday, May 31, my mom created this exact meal, and I took notes on every single step of it all. My goal was to recreate it the next Sunday, June 7 and see if the directions worked. But, without further ado, here’s the recipe, with step by step directions 🙂 Enjoy! This serves 5 people with leftovers 🙂

RICE

Ingredients:
2 tbsp EVOO
1/2 large onion
10 cloves of garlic
2 cinnamon sticks
12 ounce package of frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, carrots)
Salt, to taste
1 tbsp. turmeric
2 cups of chicken stock
4 cups of Basmati Rice
5.5 cups of cold water
1.5 tbsp of salt
Rice Cooker

Directions:
1. Place oil into a medium saucepan on low heat. Dice the large onion and place into the saucepan, and turn the heat upto high. Let it sizzle.
2. Chop the garlic and place it into the pan. Crush the cinnamon sticks (Mom used the back of her knife) and add it to the pan. Add the frozen mixed veggies. Add salt and turmeric. Let this cook for a while — the onions should be caramelized and chillin’.
3. Add this to the rice cooker that’s on. Add the chicken stock. Take the rice and rinse it a couple of time with cold water, and then let it soak for 5 minutes. Don’t touch it just yet. Add the cups of cold water to the rice cooker. You want the ratio of liquid when you cook rice to be liquid:rice — 1:2, minus half a cup (not sure exactly why, ask mom for details). Add the salt. Close the rice cooker. After 5 more minutes (how long it should take for the rice to soak), drain the rice and add it to the cooker now. Let it cook! The cooker will do the rest.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
3 tbsp EVOO
1 large onion, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
5 cloves of garlic, cut into small pieces
1 slice of garlic, grated
1 tbsp of chili powder (more or less, depending on how you like spice)
1 tbsp ground fennel seeds
Black pepper to taste
Turmeric to taste
Cumin (no idea how much, 2 teaspoons?)
Salt, to taste
2 packages of boneless, skinless, chicken breast
1/2 a lemon, juiced
1 cup of chicken stock, optional

Directions
1. In a large pan on high heat, add the EVOO and then the onion. Let it cook for 3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes and then throw that into the pan. Cook this for a while, until everything renders down. Seriously. Let it sit and cook and render down. For a while. Seriously. Do it. A good temperature for this is medium to high heat.
3. Add the garlic cloves and the grated ginger. You can also choose to use a couple of tablespoons of ginger garlic, instead (found at Indian stores or ethnic stores near you).
4. Add the chili powder, ground fennel seeds, black pepper, turmeric, cumin, and salt. Cook for five more minutes.
5. Add the chicken and turn the heat to medium high. Add the lemon juice and turn the heat up even higher. LET IT SIT AND COOK. Make sure everything is cooked thoroughly. Add chicken stock if you want the curry version of this (add more EVOO if you want more of a fry type of food).
6. ENJOYYYY!!!

If you make this, let me know how it is!! It’s seriously one of my favorite things to eat and I want to see if this recipe is helpful. Much love.