If I scale down a baked rice dish, how do I adjust the cooking time?

I want to make a rice dish that is baked- a maqluba, but I want to cut the recipe in half. Do I adjust the baking time? The recipe calls for simmering 30 mins, baking 30 mins, resting 10 mins. It uses raw (soaked) basmati rice. Calls for 1 2/3 cups of rice but I’ll cut that in half. I know I’ll need a smaller pot, too.

SaraHobbs
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5 Comments

boulangere September 29, 2019
I confess that I had never heard of a maqluba, Sarah, so I checked a recipe in the New York Times. That recipe calls for cooking the chicken, onion, and spices in water which forms a broth in which the entire ingredients are subsequently cooked for about 30 minutes. The recipe skips the oven step. I suspect that your cooking times, even for smaller quantities and a smaller cooking vessel will be about the same. The chicken is going to take about the same amount of time to partially cook and flavor the broth, and all the ingredients, including the rice and chicken, are going to need to both cook and heat through. 30 minutes sounds reasonable for that step. I've included a link to the NYT recipe, and I'd love to see a link to yours as well. You've given me something entirely new to make on a winter Sunday afternoon, so thank you.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018535-maqluba-upside-down-chicken-and-rice
 
SaraHobbs September 29, 2019
Thank you! I appreciate the help.
 
boulangere September 29, 2019
You're most welcome. I am grateful for a whole hew dish.
 
AntoniaJames September 30, 2019
Thank you for the link, boulangere. As the weather turns (finally), I'm starting to crave dishes like this, especially new and interesting ones. ;o)
 
boulangere September 30, 2019
Me too!
 
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