CookinCityRecipes & Articles For Better Cooking At Home

Indian rice with chicken and Saffron

With Cashew nuts and dried cherries

Quick answerMakes 8 servings, ready in 1 hr, Indian cuisine.
By Jaron Kimhi··👁 406 views
Indian rice
I cooked this rice last week at an Indian dinner at our house. This rice recipe is one of my favorite versions of Indian rice. It holds all the Indian flavors we love so much, without any single flavor being too aggressive — making every bite different from the last. One might say that at the end of the day, Indian spices create a strong blend that can make any food lose its individual flavors, producing a typical Indian signature. I believe that in this case there's a variety of flavors that contradict one another but also complement each other — strange, isn't it? In India like in India, though, everything goes, and the key is keeping the flavors gentle and not letting a single condiment take over the pot. Indian rice We use strong seasonings that can easily affect the outcome — cardamom, cinnamon, garam masala mixture — all gently added to the rice and softened with some butter in the finishing stages. Indian cooking is something that never ceases to amaze me. So many flavors in one pot, all coming together into a single line of screaming flavors that we identify as the Indian food trademark. This rice goes extremely well with Butter Chicken, Aloo Palak, or Dal. It can absorb any sauce, and if you want to keep it a vegetarian meal just leave out the chicken — though I have to say the chicken and its marinade add quite a lot of flavor to the dish. Indian rice Serving the rice with the cashew nuts and the cherries adds a sweet and nutty feeling to the dish, giving it a special umami quality that'll blow your mind for a second — breaking out of the regular Indian seasoning and texture.  

Method

  1. 1

    prepare the marinade· 5 minutes

    Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well Cut the chicken thighs into bite size pieces, add to the marinade, coating all the chicken pieces. Rest for 4 hrs. preferably overnight.

  2. 2

    Starting the rice· 6-7 minutes

    Place a heavy saucepan over medium heat, add the butter (or ghee), peppercorns, cardamom pods and bay leaves, cook for 30 seconds and add the sliced onion cooking it for a few more minutes until transparent. Toss in the chicken along with all its marinade fluids and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until the chicken changes its color to pale white starting to glaze in the marinade.

    Indian riceIndian riceIndian riceIndian rice
  3. 3

    Cooking the Rice· 17 minutes

    Add the rice and half of the cranberries or dried cherries, mix well and add the water. Toss in the cinnamon stick, bring the water into a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover with the lid and cook for 15 minutes.

    Indian riceIndian riceIndian rice
  4. 4

    finishing the rice dish· 7 minutes

    while the rice is cooking roast the cashew nuts to extract its nutty flavors After 15 minutes of cooking, remove the lid, add the saffron with its milk and remaining cranberries, season with salt, mix well and cover with the lid for another 5 minutes.

    Indian riceIndian riceIndian rice
  5. 5

    Before Serving· 2 minutes

    Remove the lid, add the cashew nuts and 2 tbsp. of butter, mix the rice and serve immediately.

    Indian riceIndian rice
Recipe by

Jaron Kimhi

Jaron Kimhi — self-taught home cook from Tel Aviv, writing and cooking every recipe on this site himself. 20+ years of tinkering in the kitchen, leaning toward slow cooking, classic technique, and honest ingredients.

More recipes by Jaron →

You might also like

Coconut curry chicken wings
Indian

Coconut Curry south Indian Chicken Wings

⏱ 2 hours 30 minutes👁 651
Butter chicken
Indian

Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)

⏱ about 4 hours👁 590
oyakodon
Japanese

Oyakodon (Chicken and Egg Bowl)

⏱ 17 minutes👁 558
Cauliflower Butternut squash Vindaloo
Indian

Cauliflower Butternut squash Vindaloo

⏱ 30 minutes👁 964
Categories
ChickenRice
Cuisines
Indian
Features
Rice
Tags
riceindian

Questions & answers

Can I marinate the chicken for less than 4 hours if I'm short on time?
You can, but the flavor really does get better the longer it sits — overnight is the sweet spot. If you're in a rush, even 1–2 hours will work, just don't skip the marinade step entirely.
Can I swap the dried cherries for something else?
Yep — the recipe actually lists cranberries as an alternative, so use whichever you have. They both bring that same sweet-tart pop to the rice.
Can I use regular butter instead of ghee?
Absolutely, the recipe gives you both as equal options. Ghee adds a slightly nuttier, more traditional flavor, but butter works just fine.
How do I bruise cardamom pods if I've never done it before?
Just give them a firm press with the flat side of a knife — you want them cracked open, not crushed into pieces. That's all it takes to get the flavor releasing into the dish.
Can I scale this down for fewer people?
This serves 8, so halving it for 4 is straightforward — just cut all quantities in half, including the water, and keep the 15-plus-5-minute rice cooking times the same.

Nutrition per serving

150g
Serving size
275
Calories
7g
Total Fat
0.9g
Saturated
14mg
Cholesterol