I grew up in India, eating vegetarian food with vegetable pulao as a regular dish in my home. My mother would start the pressure cooker as we sat down to eat, and the whistle would signal its readiness for us to enjoy as the last course of our meal. This recipe uses chicken pieces, or you can use all thighs. It serves two, but it’s easy to scale the recipe up to use a whole chicken, making the bones into stock, and cooking the pieces in a larger pressure cooker or instant pot.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Pulao

Category

Category name

Serves

2

To make a vegetarian pulao, simply substitute chickpeas, beans, vegetables or a combination.

For the Chicken Pulao

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade

  • 1 to 2 teaspoons red chili powder
  • ¾ teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste, equal parts minced ginger and garlic
  • 1 cup full fat plain yogurt
  • 8 ounces chicken parts or bone-in thighs
  • ½ cup Basmati rice, preferable aged
  • 2 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter, plus more for serving, optional
  • 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
  • 1 whole dried red chili
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ teaspoon whole mace
  • 2 green cardamom pods
  • 1 whole clove or ¼ teaspoon ground
  • ¼ cup chopped red onion
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
  • 1 tablespoon chopped green chili
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup Spiced Chicken Stock, recipe follows

Method

  1. To make the chicken marinade, in a large bowl, combine the chili powder, turmeric, garam masala, and ginger-garlic paste, and then stir in the yogurt. Add the chicken, turning to coat it thoroughly. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours or refrigerate for up to 1 day.
  2. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Transfer to a small bowl, cover with cold water and let soak for 1 hour.
  3. Set the pressure cooker base over medium heat. Add the ghee, cinnamon stick, chili, bay leaf, mace, cardamom and clove, stirring until the ghee melts and the spices starts to pop. Add the onion, cilantro and green chili and cook, stirring until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes.
  4. Drain the rice and stir into the spice-onion mixture. Add the salt, the chicken and spiced chicken stock, and stir again. Put on the lid to seal and attach the whistle or seal according to your pressure cooker’s instructions. Bring to pressure and cook for 4 to 5 minutes then wait until the whistle sounds 5 to 7 times. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes, then release and remove the whistle. Allow the pressure to release completely before opening. Stand away from the cooker as the steam is released. The total cooking time is about 9 to 11 minutes.
  5. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, the pulao can also be made in a Dutch oven or a large saucepan. Follow the steps for the pressure cooker but bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer gently until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 45 minutes.
  6. Let the pulao sit for at least 2 minutes. To serve, carefully scoop, to avoid breaking the rice, into shallow bowls. Add a little more ghee to the top of the rice.

 

For the Spicy Chicken Stock

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
  • Cilantro stems
  • 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 teaspoon red chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric

Method

  1. In a medium saucepan bring the chicken stock cilantro stems, ginger-garlic paste, chili powder and turmeric to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes then set aside to cool.