A filling one-pot meal with rice, raisins and apricots.

When I first suggested to make this dish my partner asked “what is pilau?”. Good question I thought. My answer: “You know, a rice dish with apricot and chicken”. It wasn’t clear yet. Some kind of biryani, that was easier to understand. But only because we have traveled through India and both love Indian food. I know my mum used to make pilau sometimes, and she would know, but if I said biryani, she wouldn’t know.

So what is pilau? It is a rice dish. And every region in the world has its own version.

This recipe is adapted from a recipe in a Dutch magazine, originally promoted as an easy summer dish for when you’re out camping. But there were no vegetables in it. And it was not vegetarian. Luckily that was easy to adjust. It is still a one-pot dish, and a delicious meal that you can create within half an hour. While on holiday or just at home.

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Pilau

5 minutes preparation + 25 minutes cooking — serves 2

• 1 pack What The Cluck pieces from the Vegetarian Butcher (or another type of vegetarian chicken pieces)
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 200 grams basmati rice
• 350 ml vegetable stock (made from a stock cube)
• 50 grams of raisins
• 100 grams of dried apricots
• 200 grams of frozen peas
• 300 grams of carrots
• Oil
• Optional: fresh coriander and flaked almonds as garnishes

1. Cut the What The Cluck pieces into bite-sized pieces.
2. Mix the pieces with the ground paprika, cumin and cinnamon.
3. Peel and chop the onion.
4. Peel the garlic and chop finely.
5. Wash the carrots and cut into small cubes of no more than 0.5 cm.
6. Cut the dried apricots into quarters.
7. Wash the rice.

8. Heat some oil in a large pan and fry the seasoned What The Cluck pieces in c. 8 minutes until crispy. Stir regularly and remove from the pan as soon as they are done.
9. Add a little extra oil to the pan and fry the onion and carrot for c. 5 minutes until they start to soften.
10. Add the garlic and rice to the pan and heat for a minute.
11. Add the fried What The Cluck pieces, peas, apricot, raisins and vegetable stock to the pan. Mix everything well and cover with a lid.

12. Reduce the heat to low and let the pilau simmer for 15 minutes.
13. Stir the pilau a few times so that the rice fluffs up.
14. Serve the pilau immediately, adding some fresh coriander and flaked almonds as a garnish if using.

Enjoy your meal!

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Leave a comment below if you made this recipe, and let me know what you think. Tips and feedback to improve the recipe are always welcome too!