Iskudheh Karis: Chicken Pilaf

This Somali rice dish is a popular dish known as iskudheh karis, it is a one pot cooking with rice and meat or chicken. In this recipe I used chicken instead. It has a wonderful fragrant aroma of the spices used, such as cloves, cardamom and cinnamon.

Ingredients:

• 1 small chicken cut into pieces
• 2 cups of basmati rice
• 3 cups of water
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 5 cardamoms
• 4 cloves
• 1 cinnamon sticks
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 Maggie chicken bouillon cube
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 green chili pepper, seeded, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Wash the rice well in cold water until most of the starch is removed and let it to soak in water for 30 minutes.
• Heat the oil in a heavy pan on a medium heat; add the chicken season with salt and pepper and sauté until brown and crisp.
• Add the onion and the garlic and fry gently for 5-6 minutes until softened.
• Stir in the cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon stick, and ginger.
  Add the chopped tomatoes, chili, cumin, coriander, cilantro and the tomato paste and cook until tomato is soft.
• Drain the rice and mix with the sauce until combined.
• Pour the water and the Maggie and mix well, bring it to boil then cover.
• Simmer gently on a low heat for 15-20 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is done.