Alright, here’s the deal, man. I was looking for a tandoori recipe, I modified one to my tastes a bit and uhh, well it’s not really “tandoori,” per say it’s more like an… Indian Inspired Chicken Drumsticks and Indian Rice recipe! I have really been craving Indian food recently, and this hit the spot perfectly, and who doesn’t love chicken drum sticks right? This next bit was pretty strange for me, I actually ate the chicken with leftover Greek yogurt I had and, much to the surprise of the 10 year old version of myself, I really liked it. When I was a kid I hated yogurt in all forms but as we age, we learn, and we venture outside of our realm of safety and we take risks in all forms, mine are just usually culinary. Though I didn’t like yogurt (or Indian food actually) when I was a kid, I have always liked the rice so I decided to take a second and learn how they make that “cool colored rice” I used to like so much as a kid. The, and arguable most important step in this process is rinsing your rice.
If I’m being completely honest my girlfriend has told me to rinse my rice since we started dating but I’ve always told her, “I’ve never done it before and it’s been fine,” and while that is true it hasn’t been great. It hasn’t been like what I get at restaurants. So, I’ve learned my lesson and I now vow to always wash my rice before I cook it. If you’re like me than you need to know the reasoning behind why it’s better to rinse it, and that’s totally fair. After doing some research I learned that the reason you want to wash rice before you eat it is not only because it can occasionally have rocks and dirt in it, but also because rice is high in starch. As you cook the rice, the starch comes out and makes the rice wet and mushy. I’ve always considered this to be fine, but after rinsing my rice I’ve learned how wrong I’ve been my whole life! Removing that starch dramatically increases the texture rice, allowing each grain to be it’s own unit as opposed to a wet mushy, dare I say, abomination of rice. As you can see, I am now quite passionate on rice. If rinsing rice was harder I’d be more opposed to doing it, but it’s so easy. Add the rice to a pot, rinse with cold water until the water isn’t murky but the water still turns a slight color and that’s it. Takes at most a couple minutes. I’ve found it’s easiest to pour the rice in a colander and rinse that way, but at home I made rice and used a cheese cloth and that worked even better. No matter how you wash your rice, this recipe is incredible! To see how I made it check out the video below!
Ingredients for Indian Drumsticks:
1 Tbsp Coriander
1 Tbsp Garam Masala
½ Tbsp Turmeric
1 Tbsp Paprika
6 cloves of Garlic
½ tsp Salt
¼ cup Greek Yogurt
Zest of 1 Lime
Juice of 1 Lime
3 Tbsp ginger, chopped
¼ cup Vegetable Oil
Ingredients for Indian Rice:
1 Tbsp Butter
~1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
1 small Yellow Onion
1 tsp Cardamom
½ tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Turmeric
½ tsp Cumin
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp Ginger, minced
2 cups rinsed Basmati Rice
4 cups Chicken Stock
2 bay leaves
Instructions:
1) Place coriander, garam masala, turmeric, and paprika in a non-stick skillet and toast over low heat for ~2 minutes
2) Add spices, garlic, salt, yogurt, lime zest and juice, and vegetable oil in a food processor and blend until homogenous
3) Place 3 large cuts into eat chicken drumstick, place drumsticks in mixing bowl and coat with spice mixture. Stir to ensure drumsticks are coated, cover and let marinate for 3 hours or up to 1 day
4) Bake drums at 450° for 45 minutes meanwhile rinse rice and prepare onion
5) In a dutch oven(or any other nonstick pot) add butter and oil, melt the butter and add onion, cook until translucent
6) Add spices and stir, then add garlic and ginger, stir and cook for a few minutes or until garlic is cooked
7) Add basmati rice and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in Chicken stock, toss in bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes
8) Open dutch over, remove bay leaves, add Sno Pac Organic Green Peas, cover and keep warm. Serve rice with Chicken drumsticks, yogurt, and paan
