Chicken and Rice, street cart style (for two)

 

 

How can it be that we are almost in the middle of January already?  Time is just whooshing by once again.  Don't blink or you will miss everything! 

 

I  don't know if time is speeding up or if I am slowing down. I rather suspect the latter which kind of scares me.  If I slow down any more I will be standing still! haha

 

I confess that I have never really lived anywhere where there was street cart style of food for sale.  Hot dog carts, etc.  I just have never experienced it.  But I have seen it on the telly.

On police  television shows like Bluebloods, they are always stopping to buy something to eat from a street vendor and I have heard very good things about street cart foods. 

I had always hoped to be able to experience it, but I guess that is not going to happen now. Not at this stage in my life.

 

I have made Street Cart Chicken and Rice before based on a recipe I found on Epicurious. You can find that full sized recipe here. 

It was really delicious.  I have a cookbook by Deb Perelman entitled Smitten Kitchen Everyday. There was a recipe in that for Chicken and Rice Street Cart style. 

I  really wanted to try it, although I did not want to make a full sized recipe.  I decided to cut the recipe in half and, hands up,  I did adapt it a bit to my own way of doing things.

 

It had a really lengthy list of ingredients but I can assure you that it goes together really quickly and easily, especially if you break it down into sections.   There are basically four sections.

The chicken (and marinade). The rice.  The sauce. The salad. None of them are hard to execute and if you begin with the part that takes the longest, working your way back. It all comes together very quickly and very easily. 

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CHICKEN AND RICE, STREET CART STYLE

I will break it down into four sections here and tell you how to execute each one individually. That will make it simplest. Working from the one which takes the longest to the shortest. 

 

 

FOR THE CHICKEN AND MARINADE

• the juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 TBS light olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/3 tsp ground coriander
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• pinch ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp powdered dried oregano
• 1 pound (about 3) boneless skinless chicken thighs 

You will need to marinate your chicken for at least half an hour or overnight. Whisk all of the ingredients for the marinade together in a plastic container with a lid. 

Open out your chicken thighs. Remove and discard any fat. Place into the marinade and smoosh it around to coat. Cover and set aside for half an hour at room temperature, or for longer in the refrigerator. 

 

FOR THE RICE 

• 1/2 TBS light olive oil
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/3 tsp ground cumin
• 1 cup (180g) basmati rice
• 1 3/4 cup (420ml) chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp salt 

While your chicken is marinating you can cook your rice. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the turmeric and the cumin. Stir and allow to toast for about 30 seconds until quite fragrant. 

Add the rice and stir to coat. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring and then add the chicken stock and the salt. 

Bring to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer. Cover tightly and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and leave to rest for about five minutes.  

FOR THE SALAD

• 1/4 head of iceberg lettuce, washed, dried and chopped
• 12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 large spring onion (scallion), washed trimmed and chopped
• fine sea salt and freshly ground back pepper to taste
• 1/2 TBS sriracha sauce
• 1/2 TBS harissa paste
• 1/2 TBS light olive oil 

To make the salad toss the lettuce, onion, and tomatoes together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Whisk together the harissa and sriracha sauce. Drizzle over the salad and toss together. 

 

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1/2 cup (100g) plain yogurt
• 1 TBS mayonnaise
• 1/2 TBS white vinegar
• 1/4 tsp white sugar
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Simply measure everything into a small bowl and whisk together until smooth.  Set aside. 

 

You will also need one of these Lebanese style pita breads. They are about 10 inches in diameter, and do not open up into a pocket bread.  They make great pizza crusts as well as for this purpose.  Don't worry you will get them used up, no problem.

Once you have all of your basic elements assembled and put together, you will need to cook the chicken. I used my Cuisinart Electric Griddler.  You can use any type of electric grill or even a grill pan on top of the stove or even your gas BBQ. 

Simply remove the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade, and grill it for 6 to 8 minutes per side until the juices run clear and the chicken is cooked through.  This smells amazing when it is cooking! 

Once cooked, transfer it to a cutting board and chop it up ready to serve.

And that's it, all of the elements are done, just divide everything between two large heated bowls, drizzle on some of that delicious cooling yogurt sauce and enjoy! 

This really is delicious. Its filled with lots of lovely flavors and textures. At first glance it might look like a lot of ingredients and a bit faffy, but trust me it is not.  

Just read the recipe through and then prepare each element of it one at a time.  Once you have all of them executed, it really does all go together like a breeze!  You are going to love this, I guarantee! 

 

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