Spiced Rice with Palm Nut Chicken — Spiced Apricot Rice with Palm Nut - Plov Moambe
Uzbek plov long-grain rice cooked with toasted cumin, julienned carrot, and dried apricot, topped with Congolese moambe palm nut chicken stew with scotch bonnet and onion, finished with cilantro.
Categories
Nutrition per Serving
Ingredients
For 2 servings
Instructions
Prep
Cut chicken into 3cm chunks. Season with 1 tsp salt and 0.25 tsp pepper. Dice 1 onion for the plov, slice the other for the moambe. Mince 5 garlic cloves for the moambe and 5 for the plov. Peel carrots and cut into matchsticks. Chop dried apricots into raisin-sized pieces. Toast cumin seeds in a dry pan 60 seconds and crush coarsely. Slice bell peppers into thin strips. Slit scotch bonnets without breaking them. Dice tomatoes. Pick cilantro leaves. Cut limes into wedges.
Sear
Heat 2 tbsp neutral oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high 90 seconds. Add chicken in a single layer and sear 5 minutes turning once, until both sides are deep mahogany. Lift to a plate.
Build 1
Reduce heat to medium. Add sliced onion and bell peppers to the same skillet and cook 4 minutes until softened. Stir in moambe garlic, white pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste, and remaining 1 tsp salt 90 seconds until tomato breaks down.
Simmer
Stir in palm nut cream and 240ml of the chicken stock. Slip scotch bonnets into the sauce. Return chicken with any juices. Reduce to low, cover, and braise 22 minutes until chicken is tender and the sauce turns deep brick-red and glossy. Lift scotch bonnets out.
Build 2
While the moambe simmers, heat 2 tbsp neutral oil in a large lidded saucepan over medium 60 seconds. Add diced plov onion and cook 3 minutes until soft. Stir in plov garlic, carrots, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and bay leaves 90 seconds.
Build 3
Add rice, apricots, and raisins to the plov pan and stir 60 seconds to coat. Pour in remaining 360ml chicken stock with a pinch of salt. Reduce to lowest heat, cover, and simmer 16 minutes until liquid is absorbed and rice is just tender. Rest 5 minutes off the heat. Fluff with a fork.
Plate
Mound plov rice in wide bowls, spoon moambe chicken and palm nut sauce generously over the top so the sauce pools through the grains. Scatter cilantro and drizzle with remaining 2 tbsp neutral oil for gloss, and serve with lime wedges.
Recipes use AI and Edamam. Always check for allergens before cooking. Spotted something wrong—email us at hello@grubplanit.com.