My visit to Jordan was truly an unforgettable and unique experience. I discovered many wonderful new dishes and a visit to Akaba open market was simply wonderful. I am always surprised by the number, amount and smells of all the spices offered by the local merchants. Naturally I bought a lot of spices, among them also a mixture of spices for chicken and a mixture for rice.
At home l prepared truly magical spiced chicken with rice. Besides great taste and smell, the dish took me back to Jordan to relive all those wonderful memories. Unfortunately, the mixtures of spices ran out and there was simply no equivalent in the local spice shops. Even the Internet could offer no help or, more probably, I could not find it. The only option remaining was to create my own mixtures.
Designing the spice mixtures
With the help of our local spice merchant, I created a list of basic ingredients. For chicken spices I mixed parsley powder, cardamom powder, tumeric and cumin. The chicken is furter seasoned with smoked paprika, smoked salt, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. A word about smoked paprika. The one I bought in Jordan had a pleasant smokey and salty taste and was light red. I could not get anything similar at my local spice shops or the internet. Everything is dominated by Spanish smoked paprika, which is dark red and has a much stronger taste. Therefore I combined Spanish smoked paprika with oak smoked salt to soften the paprika taste, preserve the smoky taste and add some salt to the mixture.
This is already a long list of spices, but it does not stop here. There is a special mixture for the rice. And believe me, it is worth the trouble. All the spices together give a rich, full flavor to make your mouth water. For rice spices I mixed cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cardamom and salt. A totally different set of flavors, which add a nice counterbalance to the chicken.
Other important tips
Another important aspect of this dish is the type of the meat. Only chicken breasts are just not good enough. There is a lot of protein, but just not a lot of flavor. Meat from chicken legs or wings has much more flavor, since it also has much more fat which is an important factor. Chicken legs and wings release a lot more liquid, not just fat, which mixes with rice and adds another layer of flavor. So do include chicken meat from legs and wings, but without bones, otherwise you might not cook the meat enough. Below you can find the recipe for the both spice mixtures as well as the recipe for the spices chicken with rice.
Spices mix recipe
For chicken spices mix combine:
2 parts salt, 1 ½ parts turmeric, 1 part black pepper, 1 part garlic powder, 1 part parsley powder, ½ part smoked paprika, ½ part smoked salt, ½ part cumin, ½ part cardamom powder. Mix well and store in an airtight container in a cool and dry place.
For rice spices mix combine:
1 part salt, ½ part cinnamon powder, ½ part cloves powder, ½ part allspice powder, ¼ part cardamom powder. Mix well and store in an airtight container in a cool and dry place.
Jordanian spiced chicken and rice recipe
For four persons:
- 500-800g chicken meat without bones
- 250 g (1 cup) basmati rice
- 1 cup water (same volume as rice)
- ½ cup green peas
- ½ cup diced carrots
- ½ cup unsalted roasted peanuts
- 1 medium sized onion
- 4 teaspoons of chicken spices mix
- 2 teaspoons of rice spices mix
- 2-3 spoons of olive oil
- Cinnamon bark and whole bay leaves
Cut chicken meat in serving sizes. As mentioned, only chicken breast is not an optimal choice, since meat from legs adds much more flavor. In a suitable bowl, rub the meat with olive oil and chicken spices. Make sure that the spices spread evenly and no big lumps of dried species are present. If the mixture feels dry and the spices do not spread evenly, add some more olive oil. Leave the mixture standing for 20-30 minutes.
In a big pan, fry the chicken on both sides until it is crispy and golden. Take the chicken out of the pan, but leave the liquid. Fry finely chopped onion until golden, then add carrots, peas and fry for an additional minute. Add rice, rice spices and peanuts. Mix with the vegetables, spread evenly and put chicken pieces into the rice, so that they form a circle. In the middle of the circle arrange some cinnamon bark and bay leaves. Finally add boiling water evenly to the dish. Cover and cCook on low heat (it should be boiling gently) for 20 minutes. There is no need to open the pot and mix the content, just sit back and relax until the dish is prepared. Serve with fresh parsley and yogurt.
