“Taste the liquid, it’s like syrup” -Me, handing a spoon to Pieter.
This is November in a bowl. You basically just toss everything into a big pot and let it simmer—the longer you leave it, the deeper the flavour. The chicken falls apart in strings and the prunes kind of just disintegrate and seep their sweetness throughout. Packed with spices and texture and caramel undertones, this dish warms you from within and makes you smile and leaves you wanting seconds and thirds and leftovers the next day.
Ingredients:
6-8 skinless & boneless chicken thighs
1 eggplant
2 zucchini
2 yellow onions
1 cup pitted prunes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup brown rice
1 litre chicken broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 bunch fresh parsley
Directions:
Dice eggplant and zucchini into 1/2” cubes.
Halve and thinly slice onions.
Halve prunes.
In a large pot, heat oil and sear chicken thighs on both sides, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Add onions and spices. Cook on medium low heat until onions begin to soften.
Add rice, broth, tomato paste and prunes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Add eggplant and zucchini. Cover and let simmer for another half hour to an hour, stirring occasionally. The longer you leave it to simmer, the deeper the flavours will be.
When done, rice will be cooked through, liquid will be syrupy sweet and chicken will fall apart.
Serve a generous portion topped with fresh parsley.
Bowls will be scraped clean.
