One pan meals are always a good idea, and this garam masala spiced one is so easy! it’s a quick marinade then throw things in the pan. Even the rice is cooked in there. If you hadn’t noticed I’m all about minimal effort and washing up at the moment and this dish ticks all those boxes. place it tastes YUMMMM!                                         

That yoghurt and garam masala marinade is the bomb because it gives the chicken flavour, tenderises it a little so it’s super juicy, and leaves the skin really crispy! So if you wanna eat it, it’s super tasty. It also mixes in with the rice as things cook making EVERYTHING delicious.

About that rice, by cooking it in the same tray as everything else you get maximum flavour into it. You’re cooking the chicken on the bone so you don’t need to buy chicken stock to cook the rice in to get depth of flavour, it happens as everything cooks together.

You add the vegetables to the pan in stages to make sure everything is cooked to perfection. If you set a timer to do this you’ll find the whole dish really fuss free to make. If you use small chicken pieces you can take 10 minutes of the first cooking time as they may cook a little quicker. As you’re cooking everything in the rice liquid you’re unlikely to over cook the chicken though so don’t fuss too much.

Any leftover rice and vegetables are great with a poached egg the next day!

Note: The image in the baking dish is of a half serve.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1.5Kg Chicken Pieces (I used 4 Marylands)

2/3 cup plain yoghurt

1 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs Garam Masala

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp turmeric

2 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 cups brown rice

1/4 cup spring onion, finely diced

1 tsp garam masala

3.5 cups water, with a pinch of salt added

300g brussel sprouts

1 tsp olive oil

1 bunch broccolini

Yoghurt sauce

1 cup plain/greek yoghurt

1/2 cucumber finely diced

1/3 cup finely chopped coriander

1/4 cup finely chopped spring onion

To serve

Coriander leaves, spring onion – finely sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius on fan bake.

Mix together the yoghurt, olive oil, garam masala, cumin, chilli, turmeric and salt, add the chicken pieces and set aside for 15 minutes to overnight.

Get a large baking tray that is a few inches deep. Rinse your rice and then spread it in an even layer on the bottom of this tray. Add spring onion and salted water. Place chicken pieces on top and sprinkle over the extra tsp of garam masala. Cover with foil, loosely secured, and place in oven. Bake for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, 1/4 the brussel sprouts and toss in the tsp of olive oil. At the 40 minute mark add to the chicken tray, dotted around the chicken, place foil over the top and return to the oven for 10 minutes. After Remove the foil and return to the oven again, cook for  further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together yoghurt sauce ingredients. Season and set aside.

Add the broccolini, it can lay over everything else, and return the tray to the oven for another 10 minutes. At this point your chicken skin should be crunchy, there should be very little liquid left in the rice and the brussel sprouts should be crisp on the outside but soft in the centre. The broccolini will have just started to colour and be tender.

Remove, season with black pepper and serve scattered with the extra coriander and spring onion, yoghurt,sauce on the side.

HH. x