Bukhari Rice with Mint flavored Chicken

Today out of the blue I thought of making this Bukhari Rice that I had seen on internet and TV a while ago. Have never tried having it in restaurants before, but the description and look of it made it interesting and appealing. It's an Arabic meal with flavorful rice that has subtle spices and is served with a variation of meat and vegetables on the side. So without any ado, let's take a look at this exotic middle eastern preparation of Bukhari Rice with mint flavored chicken.

Ingredients:
For Mint Chicken Roast:

• 2 chicken breast, cut into pieces you prefer
• 1 handful pudina
• 2 handful cilantro
• 3 big pods garlic
• 1-inch ginger
• 3-4 green chillies
• 1/2 tsp jeera
• 1/2 tsp dry pomegranate seeds.
• 1/2 cup hung yogurt (thick with no or less water) or sour cream
• salt to taste
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 small onion sliced

For Bukhari Rice:

• 2 cups Basmati Rice
• 1/2 cup sliced onion
• 2 cubes bouillon chicken stock- about 2 cups
• 1 & 1/2 cups water
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste ( if it's fresh even better)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2-3 tbsp oil
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cups pine nuts (can substitute it with cashews)
• salt to taste
• make a powder of 4-5 cloves, 4-5 green cardamoms seeds, 1-inch stick of cinnamon

Preparation:

For Roasted Minty Chicken:     

• Make a paste of mint, cilantro, garlic, ginger, green chillies, jeera, pomegranate seeds. 
• Marinate pieces of chicken breast with this paste along with yogurt(or sour cream), lemon juice and salt for around 2 hrs atleast. 
• In a pan, add oil, add onion and saute till it gets dark brown, now add this marinated chicken and cook till done (about 20 min), don't add any water, if it looks very dry, add sparingly. Your chicken is ready.

For Bukhari Rice:

• Soak rice for 1-2 hours in water. 
• Fry nuts and raisins in 1-2 tbsp of oil, keep aside. 
• Heat oil in a non-stick wide bottom pan, add cumin seeds, add sliced onion, fry till light brown and then add ginger garlic paste fry for 1-2 minutes, add carrots, drained rice, powder of 3 spices and quickly stir the mixture for a couple of minutes. Now add 2 cups chicken stock and 1&1/2 cups water, salt and half quantity of nuts and raisins. 
• Close the lid tight, cook on low flame(very important) and forget about it for 20-25 minutes. 
• Switch off the gas wait for 5 minutes, add the remaining nuts and raisins, slowly and gently mix everything again and your exotic rice is ready to be served. 
• Can be served with chilled yogurt, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions!

NjoY Cooking!!
recipe credits to seema hussain a fellow foodie.

Nutrition Value: Chicken is a good source of protein. Children love it mostly. And adding flavors of mint/cilantro infused in yogurt will definitely add more range of flavors to their taste buds :) ( so I hope:)) 
I want to try this preparation on brown rice too where we will have added nutrients to this Arabic flavorful dish. Rice is low in calorie content if eaten in proper proportion, it's actually a great staple food esp, beaten, brown, parboiled versions.