Categories: Main CoursesRice

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.

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View Comments

Anisa says:

June 30, 2010 at 12:13 pm

I'll try this today. yammii
samira says:

August 12, 2010 at 4:01 am

tried this with goat meat. Came out excellent. Was a hit with the family too!
Bashire says:

January 20, 2011 at 9:40 am

Lovely and easy recipe, best i ever cooked
- admin says:
  
  January 20, 2011 at 8:10 pm
  
  Thanks Bashire, for leaving a comment.
Linda says:

March 21, 2011 at 5:02 pm

I just made this tonight and was it the best ever!! It tasted just like the food we had at a Somalian wedding last month. It was fabulous!! Thanks for the recipe.
- admin says:
  
  March 22, 2011 at 11:06 am
  
  Thanks Linda
layla says:

December 26, 2011 at 3:04 am

salaam sis tried this recipe it was very tasy the rice was very mosit
how ever the chicken was little dry and bland i used chicken thighs and drumsticks please can you tell me the right amout of chicken and seasoning if you know any somali spicy sala or saues to go with dish i would be very grateful thank you so much
- mysomalifood says:
  
  January 1, 2012 at 1:26 am
  
  Salaam Layla,
  Thanks for trying this recipe, you can use legs and thighs about 4 - 6 pieces or a small chicken. Shigni is goes well with recipe.
layla says:

January 2, 2012 at 2:39 am

thank you very much i will try that and let you
know how it goes thanks again
- mysomalifood says:
  
  January 2, 2012 at 8:40 am
  
  You are welcome, I am glad I could help. enjoy your iskudheh karis
Zainab says:

June 11, 2012 at 5:35 am

This will be the first time I'll try this, can't wait :)

Should I use the same cup I'm using to measure the rice for the water?

Thank you!
- mysomalifood says:
  
  June 11, 2012 at 10:09 am
  
  Thanks for stopping by
  use the same cup, it should work.
  
  enjoy
Salma says:

May 18, 2013 at 4:47 pm

Can huruud be used in this dish? Thank you mashallah this is great
- mysomalifood says:
  
  May 26, 2013 at 9:22 am
  
  sorry for the late reply, yes you can use huruud, jazakaAllah