Weeknight Fancy Chicken and Rice

This was very tasty. I didn't have any star anise, so I added the standard cinnamon stick and bay leaf combo to the cardamom and also some cumin seed, coriander seed and mustard seed. The turmeric amount seemed skimpy, so I tripled that and am glad I did. I also added 2 sliced serrano peppers for some heat. One thing I might do differently next time is to add the rice before the broth and sauté it a bit before adding the broth, so that the rice grains don't stick together as much.

This is a simplified Chicken Biryani. The level of spice is for more timid Western tastes. You know what to do.

Cardamom pods can be bitter, so it's best to crush the pods, remove the seeds and discard the pods, using the seeds alone. They, and the star anise will be easy to remove after cooking if you wrap them in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it into a bundle with a piece of kitchen string before putting them in the pot.

My feeling is that this is an extremely under-seasoned recipe. Neither the cardamom nor the star anise have enough zip to elevate this beyond a very basic chicken and rice dish. Were I to cook this again, I would definitely want to add some chiles for a bit of heat, and perhaps some garam masala to amp up the spice.

As someone else mentioned, this is a simplified Chicken Biryani with the spices considerably reduced. Taking others' lead, I increased the amount of cardomom, tripled the turmeric, added cumin, and used Chinese 5-spice blend (which includes star anise) instead of the anise alone.but it was still too mild for me. Next time, some heat. As in all Indian cooking, you should remove the chicken skin. You must also wash (rinse) and soak the basmati for 30 minutes before adding it to the pan.

Is there something I can use as a substitute for the green cardamom pods?

Awesome dinner. Used 1 tsp garam marsala and 1 tsp ground cardamon with the onions, and skipped most of the salt.

Definitely worth it. Not difficult. Very tasty combination of spices. Have been using chicken thighs instead of breasts in all of my cooking with great results. I chop the thighs into 4 or 5 chunks, remove the skin and leave the bone. Result is always moist and flavorful. Not spicy and OK for just about everyone. The rice was perfectly cooked as well. I
had no apricots so I used dried quartered figs instead. Loved it.

Very easy and different enough from the usual chicken and rice to do now and again. Based on other comments, I used breast tenders cut in half and browned lightly before everything else, then set aside and added back when the rice was half cooked, so they were not dry. Also included about 2 tsp minced ginger, which was more than plenty. And used only 1 cup of rice which also increased flavor-fullness. Served with sliced mango and avocado, with lime to spritz all.

I didn't have cardamom pods so I substituted a teaspoon or so of ground cardamom. With that and the star anise it was quite flavorful. I wonder whether those who found it underseasoned were using older anise. Hot pepper would have taken it in a less desirable direction, I think. I sauteed some zucchini and onions with cumin and turmeric as a side.

I added golden raisins at the end and the fam - after at first being confused by raisins in "fried" rice - absolutely loved it. This may become a staple.

NOTE: go easy the on the onions in the first step so that they don't caramelize, thus discoloring the dish.

From most helpful notes: add 2 diced serranos. Sub cinnamon stick for star anise. Add extra 1/2 times more spices including 1 tsp garam masala. Sauté rice first to separate grains. Check cooking time and liquids on bazamati and compare to recipe.

It’s very important to rinse the rice and soak it with cold water for a few hours or warm water for 1/2 hr. With brown rice I add mong lentil or brown split lentil, takes longer to cook also needs more broth( lentil has to be boiled, half way cooked and rinsed before adding to the mix) , hopefully

MW = microwave

It might be clear if you didn't substitute "mw" for English.