Mom's Khao Mok Kai (some call it Biryani)
edamame2003
- Serves
- 4
Some might recognize many of the ingredients in this dish as a biryani. I just know it as a dish my mom would bake a pan of on Sunday and we would be eating it for days. I made this stove-top, but I believe it can be baked as well.
The chicken and rice (in Thai, rice is khao and chicken is kai) are moist and the fragrance of the spices fills the house with a warm and inviting aroma.
The super simple method is to use yellow curry powder and skip all the spice blending, but what's the fun in that?
Ingredients
Spice Mix
- 1 tablespoon green cardamom (toasted, pods removed)
- 1 tablespoon black cardamom (toasted, pods removed)
- 1 teaspoon coriander seed (toasted)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed (toasted)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed (toasted)
- 2 tablespoon fresh turmeric (1 T if dried)
- 2 tablespoon fresh ginger
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Rice and Chicken (the Khao and Kai)
- 1 pound chicken
- 1 cup yogurt
- 2 tablespoon ghee
- 1/2 onion (sliced thinly)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 bay leaves
- 3-5 cloves
- 2 cup basmati rice
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Directions
- Step 1
add all the ingredients from the spice mix to a mortar and ground into a paste
- Step 2
divide the spice mix in half and mix one half with the yogurt
- Step 3
lightly salt the chicken pieces and mix with the yogurt spice mix and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes.
- Step 4
wash and rinse the rice.
- Step 5
heat the ghee and stir fry the other half of the spice mix.
- Step 6
add the rice and coat with the spice mix over medium heat.
- Step 7
Add 2 cups of water to the rice and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer with a cover (10 minutes)
- Step 8
in another pan, melt another tablespoon of ghee and brown the chicken for about 5 minutes on each side.
- Step 9
Add the chicken, onion and whole spices to the half-cooked rice and cover until the rice is cooked (approximately 30 minutes)
- Step 10
Eat with lime and cilantro for garnish.