Jambalaya

Our eldest child started having jambalaya at the school canteen so I decided to be inspired to make some for dinner, having never done so before. Overall it takes about an hour and a half to cook from start to finish, but with lots of idle time once all the vegetables are chopped.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken thighs, cut into 2cm pieces (about 250g)
  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 green chilli, deseeded and fineley chopped (~5mm square pieces)
  • 1 green sweet pepper, deseeded and finely chopped (~5mm square pieces)
  • 2 sticks celery, washed and finely chopped (~5mm square pieces)
  • 100g kielbasa, chopped into 5mm square pieces)
  • 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp miled chilli powder
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 300ml (~250g) basmati rice
  • 600ml chicken stock
  • 150g raw king prawns
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges
  • 4 spring onions, finely sliced

Method

  1. Heat 1 tbsp of the sunflower oil in a deep, oven safe, frying pan over a medium heat.
  2. Fry the chicken pieces for 10 minutes, 5 minutes each side, turning once.
  3. Put the chicken to one side and then add the remaining sunflower oil to the pan.
  4. Reduce the heat to low and add the sliced onion with a few tbsp of fresh water.
  5. Deglaze any stuck on chicken bits into the water and put a lid on.
  6. Stir every 5 minutes or so and cook for 20 minutes until the onions are starting to develop a darker colour.
  7. Add the chilli, sweet pepper, celery, kielbasa, garlic, oregano, chilli powder and bay leaves to the pan and mix well.
  8. Place the lid back on it and cook for 20 minutes, stiring well every 5 minutes.
  9. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  10. Once the vegetables are well cooked, add the basmati rice and give it all a good stir until well mixed.
  11. Pour in the chicken stock.
  12. Turn up the heat and bring to a rolling boil.
  13. Immediately place the lid on it and put into the oven.
  14. Bake for 30 minutes.
  15. Remove from the oven, dot the raw prawns over the top, place the lid back on and leave to rest for 15 minutes on the side (no heat).
  16. Serve in bowls with pan fried green beans with garlic and garnished with the lemon and spring onion.
  17. If you're feeling fancy you can pre-crisp the spring onions by tossing them with some extra oil in a bowl and then microwave for 1 minute. Given them a good stir and microwave for another 30 minutes. Repeat until they've started to darken, then drain on some kitchen towel (which will crisp them up) and then use to garnish the dish.
Serves 4, but can easily be doubled for more people (or leftovers).

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