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Biryani Chicken Breasts with Coconut Rice Pilaf
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Biryani Chicken Breasts with Coconut Rice Pilaf

Indian biryani curry paste and Tex-Mex canned tomatoes with green chilies spice up Biryani Chicken Breasts.
Course Main Course, Poultry
Servings 4

Ingredients

For chicken

  • 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, about 1/3 pound or so each
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon butter divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil divided
  • 1 medium yellow onion sliced
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 can (8 to 10 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chilies (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1 tablespoon Biryani Curry Paste (see Kitchen Notes)

For rice

  • 1 cup long grain rice [see Kitchen Notes]
  • 1-1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk, light or regular (see Kitchen Notes)
  • salt to taste
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 cup dried currants
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon red cayenne pepper or to taste

Instructions

  • Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towel. Salt and pepper them. Heat a large sauté pan over a medium high flame, add half the butter and olive oil and swirl the pan to combine. Add chicken and brown on both sides, 4 or 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate.
  • Reduce heat to medium and add remaining butter and olive oil to pan. Add onion and cook ’til softened, about 5 minutes, stirring often to avoid browning. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add diced tomatoes and biryani paste, stirring thoroughly to combine. Return chicken breasts to pan along with any juices. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn off heat.
  • Transfer chicken breasts to cutting board, one at a time, and slice across the grain into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange on plates with Coconut Rice Pilaf. Spoon tomato sauce over chicken—and rice, if desired.
  • Meanwhile, cook the rice. Combine rice, water, coconut milk and salt in a sauce pan. Bring to boil over high heat. Stir in cumin, reduce heat to low and cover pan. Cook until rice is done, about 15 minutes. Stir in currants, rice vinegar and cayenne pepper. Serve.

Kitchen Notes

Biryani curry paste. This is one of the more reliably findable prepared pastes out there among a dazzling, confusing array available. The original recipe actually called for Tandoori Curry Paste and produced an equally inauthentic so-called tandoori chicken, but this paste is harder to find, even in the Indian markets along Devon Avenue in Chicago. Either is delicious.
Rice. The original recipe calls for basmati or jasmine rice. When we have basmati in the house, I use it, but long grain rice also works just fine. If you do use basmati or jasmine rice, bring the water and coconut milk mixture to a boil, then add the rice and cook for 15 minutes.
Coconut milk. This adds a nice flavor to the rice. It also adds an impressive amount of fat, unless you use light coconut milk. I often make this rice without coconut milk, increasing the water to 2 cups. Also quite good this way.