Easy baked saffron chicken and rice

If you've never tried cooking rice in the oven, here's your sign to give it a go. It is a foolproof method that gives you beautiful, fluffy, flavoursome rice that's perfectly cooked every time.

Ingredients

For the chicken:

6 thigh fillets, bone in and skin on

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

½ teaspoon saffron, ground (or turmeric)

Juices and zest of ½ a lemon

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon toum (garlic paste)

Salt and pepper

For the rice:

¼ olive oil

1 tablespoon ghee

1 onion, diced

2 cups basmati rice, washed

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cardamom

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon saffron, ground (or turmeric)

3 cups water

Fresh parsley to serve

Toasted nuts, to serve (optional):

1 tablespoon ghee

1 tablespoon almonds, slivered

1 tablespoon pine nuts

1 tablespoon pistachio, crushed

Method

To make the chicken marinade, in a small bowl, add the mayonnaise, saffron, lemon juice and zest, thyme, toum, salt and pepper and mix until well combined.

Lay out the chicken pieces in a container and cover both sides of the chicken pieces with the marinade. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 165°C

Heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe pot over medium heat. Sear chicken thighs skin-side down until brown and crispy. Remove chicken and set aside. Clean out half the oil and leave half to cook the rice.

In the same pot, melt the ghee into the leftover oil. Sauté the diced onion until soft and translucent. Add the rice, salt and spices. Toss to combine. Add the water and allow it to come to a simmer. Turn off heat.

Return chicken to the pot and sit each piece (skin facing up) on top of the rice. Try to have the skin of the chicken sitting above the water.

Place a lid on the pot and place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

If serving with toasted nuts, melt the ghee in a small fry pan. Add the nuts and cook, stirring frequently, until the pine nuts are a golden-brown colour. This should only take a minute or two. Remove the nuts from the pan to a plate to stop the cooking process.

At 20 minutes, remove the lid off the pot of rice and bake for another 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, top with the toasted nuts and some freshly chopped parsley. Serve with some greens or a salad on the side.

Tips:

I use white basmati rice. The flavour and texture work best for this recipe

You can prepare chicken thighs the night before and leave in the marinade until ready to cook.

You can use other cuts of chicken, boneless and skin off if you prefer, but the bone and skin do add to the flavour.

Invest in a good quality saffron for the best result. It can be expensive so as an alternative you can use ground turmeric.