Chicken Tangri Pulao: A Quick Weeknight Dinner Recipe

I have to admit, this Chicken Tangri Pulao recipe is a crowd-pleaser, and it literally takes around an hour, from start to finish, to make this. I use chicken drumsticks, or Tangri, because its very easy to portion them out while serving. This is a fabulous weeknight dinner recipe with some salad on the side (I love making a quick cucumber and tomato salad with lemon juice, pepper, salt and cilantro to flavour it), and a wedge of lime on the side to just add a bit of freshness. Although I have other chicken pulao and fried rice recipes on the blog, this one is a recent favourite, and I absolutely love how easy to put together it is. Using a spice grinder is very useful, and I trust my favourite Preethi Zodiac mixer grinder, which is in top form, even after two years of relentless torture.

Before beginning, let us discuss some quick rules for making great weeknight meals.

Generally, I like meals that consist of at least two of the numerous aspects noted here :

a) must have all components – protein, carbohydrate, and fat

b) can be cooked within an hour – from start to finish

c) should be a breeze to clean up afterwards

d) leftovers can be utilised

e) pantry can be cleaned up through these dishes

f) must have SOME nutritional value addition

g) can be easily modified and adapted

Here’s the thing – this chicken pulao recipe uses EVERY single one of these rules. Although I am putting down the exact recipe, if you don’t want to use so many spices, you are free to not add something you aren’t fond of. If you want to use herbs and a lot of vegetables, sure, go ahead! If you want to switch out the chicken for other meats, or even seafood, or, for vegetarians, a truckload of vegetables, you can totally do so. If you think you want to use basmati rice, or brown rice, in place of white, hey, who am I to stop you? Cooking is fun, and you should be able to play with it!

The basic pulao recipe format remains the same – all you need to do is make the right substitutes, and that way, you can make, literally, the same dish over and over again, but by swapping ingredients, not only are you letting your creativity flow, but also honing your skills and getting comfortable with different ingredients. That is extremely important if you want to build your confidence in the kitchen. Also, follow the sequence of action I have taken – it really helps optimize everything!

How to Make Chicken Tangri Pulao

Marinate the Chicken

Marinate 500-700 gm chicken drumsticks (ideally 8 small sized chicken legs or 4 medium sized legs)  with 3 tablespoon plain yoghurt, 2 tbsp onion paste, 1 teaspoon each ginger, garlic, green chilli paste, salt to taste, and a dash of black pepper.

Make the Pulao Masala

You can use this to not only make Chicken Tangri Pulao, but also to flavour meats and use it for grilling. In a pan, combine 3 inch stick of cinnamon, 3 green cardamoms, 6 cloves, 1 black cardamom, 1 blade of mace, 1/2 nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon allspice (kabab chini) and 2 teaspoons dried rose petals. The last two ingredients are optional, and you can just skip them if you don’t have them.  You can also add some whole coriander seeds here – I didn’t have any, so I didn’t add it. Heat gently over low heat for 3-4 minutes, or until they start getting toasty. Stir around, then remove from heat, cool slightly, and then grind to a coarse powder.

Soak the Rice

Wash thoroughly and soak 300 gm. short-grained rice in water.

Fry the Onions

Heat 4-5 tablespoons of mustard oil in a pan, and add to it about 200 gm. chopped onions. Fry, over medium to medium-low heat, stirring the onions till they brown. Once the onions are golden brown, remove half of it to a bowl. The rest will be used.

Partially Cook the Chicken

To the remaining onions in the pan, add the chicken. Crank up the heat all the way to high, and stir the chicken over high flame, till its seared on all sides. This is the point where you can add a bay leaf and a star anise for flavour. Both are optional, though. Stir fry the chicken till its lightly browned on all sides – it will take you a good 8-10 minutes of stirring to get there, but seriously, worth every moment, I promise. Also, this Chicken recipe benefits from using a metal pan or kadai, because it helps with the searing process. Add 2 tbsp of the ground spices created at the very beginning of the recipe, and stir that well. Add some salt and sugar to taste, and then pour in 500 ml. hot water. Let the chicken boil in this water for 8-10 minutes, covered tightly.

Fry the Rice

In a separate pot (preferably nonstick and large enough to fit the meat, the rice, and about a litre of water), heat 1 tbsp butter. Add to it a blade of mace, 1″ cinnamon, 2 whole green cardamoms and 4 cloves. Stir for 30 seconds, and then add the soaked and drained rice. Stir to cook till the rice changes its colour slightly and becomes translucent.

Bringing it Together

Add the chicken to the rice. Stir well, and then let the grains soak up some of the chicken gravy. Then, add enough hot water so that the water level comes up to half an inch above the rice. This is the point where you might want to contemplate adding some vegetables for some extra points, like peas, corn, diced carrot or potatoes. In case you want to add peppers and string beans, then please leave that until the last few minutes of cooking, since those vegetables cook rather quickly. Once the water again comes to a boil, check it for seasoning. The water should be slightly more salty than you like, because when the rice is cooked, it will soak up a lot of that salt. Cover, and cook for 15 minutes, simmered, without opening the lid once.

Final Touches

After 15 minutes, open the lid, add 6-7 slit green chillies, vegetables like string beans, green peppers, broccoli, and 1/2 cup milk. This is also the point where you can optionally add some saffron and/or kewra water to the dish. Cover again, and cook for 5 minutes, simmered, before turning off the heat and letting the chicken Tangri pulao cook in its own steam for another 10-15 miutes. Top with the remaining fried onions and serve with salad and lime wedges. You can also serve a simple tomato raita with this dish.