One-pot version of FauxPseudo’s Curried rice, chicken, bell pepper and peas

I was intrigued by @FauxPseudo’s “Curried rice, chicken,  bell pepper and peas” recipe post because I often cook something similar, but in one pot. So I decided to roughly cook the recipe, but all in a Dutch oven. This also follows some of Melissa Clark’s recipe instructions from “Dinner in One”.

Curried Chicken Thighs and Rice

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Yields: 3 servings
• Tools:
  • food processor with mixing blade and slicer attachments
  • Dutch oven
  • bowls
  • chef’s knife
  • onion goggles
  • foil

Ingredients

• 3 chicken thighs
• 1.5 cups bismati or jasmine long grain rice, rinsed
• 2.5 cups chicken stock
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• .5 cups frozen peas, thawed
• Spices:
  • 1 tbsp. turmeric powder
  • 4 tsp. cumin seed
  • 3 tsp. kosher salt
  • 4 tsp. cinnamon (or sticks, whatever)
  • 1 tsp. cardamom (optional)
• 2 bay leaves
• cilantro, chopped (optional)

Notes

I do not usually have whole cardamom or cinnamon sticks so I use ground stuff. This time I accidentally used regular oil instead of olive oil and it came out fine too, but I much prefer using olive oil to peanut oil because of allergies.

I prefer my chicken thighs bone-in rather than boneless, and I do not cut-up the chicken prior to cooking (or even after), but I did cut up the chicken into chunks afterward this time.

I like to set the peas in a small dish near the stove to thaw while the chicken and rice are cooking.

Instructions

1. Peel the garlic cloves.
2. Put on onion goggles, peel the outer (dry) layer of the onion, slice the ends off, and slice into chunks large enough to put down the tube of the food processor.
3. Attach a mixing blade to the food processor, put in the garlic cloves, and mince. Put the garlic into a small bowl and then rinse out the food processor, dry, and attach the slicer attachment.
4. Assemble the spices and garlic into a small bowl.
5. Pat down the chicken thighs, place in the large bowl, and mix with half of the spices and 1 tbsp. of the olive oil.
6. Heat the Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
7. Place the seasoned and oiled chicken thighs into the Dutch oven and lightly-brown about 2 minutes on each side. While the chicken is browning, do step 8 below.
8. Put the large onion chunks into the tube of the food processor as it is running until all the onions are sliced.
9. Remove the chicken thighs to the large bowl
10. Add the remaining olive oil and onions into the Dutch oven cooking for about 5 minutes.
11. Add the remaining spices and garlic cloves to the Dutch oven stirring for about 1 minute.
12. Add the rice into the Dutch oven stirring to ensure the rice is coated with oil. If necessary, add some more olive oil to do so.
13. Add the chicken stock and bay leaves and bring everything to a boil.
14. Turn down the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.
15. Remove the cinnamon sticks if you used sticks.
16. Add the chicken thighs and accumulated juices on top of the rice, cover, and cooking for 17-20 minutes until rice and chicken thighs are cooked. The heat should still be on low.
17. While the chicken and rice are cooking in 15, chop the red bell peppers and cilantro.
18. Remove the chicken thighs to a cutting board and tent with foil.
19. Remove the bay leaves and add the bell peppers and peas while fluffing the rice. Cover for 5 minutes.
20. Plate the chicken and rice topping with cilantro.

CC: @cooking