A strong craving for a delicious rice meal can be satisfied in various ways. And why burden Biryani and Pulao with all the time? Someday you can also cook up Arroz Con Pollo, a flavourful Mexican rice and chicken dish that has everything in it from chicken sausages, to veggies to rajma beans. The most comforting part, is that this one pot rice is pleasantly similar in flavour and seasonings to our Indian food with Taco spices and includes cumin, black pepper, red chilli added to the gravy. Arroz Con Pollo is full of the savouriness of tomato puree and lemon juice and with the crunchiness of fresh bell peppers added in the end.
Arroz Con Pollo
Arroz con pollo is an extremely popular dish in both Hispanic and Latin American everyday cuisine. Arroz con Pollo means rice with chicken, and is quite similar to Paella or the rice dish of Spain. The origin of this staple dish is disputed between Spain and Puerto Rico. The dish has many versions and variations throughout Latin America and the Mexican version is quite spicy and flavourful.
Chicken sausages are made of ground meat of chicken, and get that cylindrical and spherical shape because of the edible casings of skin in which they are stuffed.
Preparation: 45 minutes
Cooking: 25-30 minutes
Servings: 2-3 persons
Ingredients :
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1 tsp garlic (minced)
• 1 green chilli (slit)
• 1 cup chicken sausage (sliced)
• 2 tomatoes (pureed)
• 1 tbsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• ½ tsp dried herbs
• ¼ tsp red chilli flakes
• 1 tsp cumin seed powder
• ¼ cup kidney beans (boiled)
• ½ cup corn kernels
• ¾ cup rice (washed & soaked)
• 1 cup water
• Salt to taste
• Juice of ½ lemon
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup mixed bell pepper mixed
Method:
• Heat olive oil in a pan and add chopped onions and saute them until translucent
• Then add garlic on low flame until raw smell goes off and add chillies
• Add chicken sausages and saute them until they are bit fried add tomatoes to it and mix
• Now add the powdered spices and herbs to it and mix them well with other ingredients
• Cover the pan with a lid and let them cook for 2 minutes
• After 2 minutes add boiled kidney beans and sweet corns and saute them well with the rest of the ingredients
• Add the soaked rice slowly in batches mixing them with other ingredients gently and adding water and adding to it
• Also add the juice of, half the lemon to it and cover it and cook at low flame until the rice absorbs water
• When all the water is absorbed, add another quarter cup of water and add a little more salt to it and add mixed bell peppers to it and cover the pan
• Cook the rice for a couple of minutes and leave it covered and get moistened in the steam
• Serve this in a rice bowl
You can also use canned tomato puree in place of freshly made one. Take care to not break the long rice grains, while stirring and mixing. The rice needs to be soaked for 20 minutes before cooking. You can add more herbs of your choice.
