Ingredients (in units of 'some', 'a bit' and the occasional 'dollop'):
- Some chopped chicken breasts, cut quite small (1 per person is quite generous)
- A medium onion, chopped
- Some celery, also chopped (or you could use peppers, or both)
- A handful of jalapenos, chopped
- Chorizo, cut into quite thin slices
- Garlic, crushed or chopped small
- A good glug of olive oil
- A dollop of lazy chilli/chilli paste/chilli powder (I use lots, but you may value your sinuses)
- Basmati rice (enough to feed everyone who will be eating)
- Boiling water or vegetable/chicken stock (1 1/2 times as much as rice, roughly)
- A tin of chopped tomatoes
- Red wine, if you have it
- Frozen peas
Method:
- Chop everything (you can do this as you go along, of course, just make sure you don't forget!)
- Cook chicken in olive oil, then turf out into a convenient receptacle when cooked through. I added some paprika while cooking, but you don't have to.
- Fry garlic and chilli in olive oil left in the pot for a few seconds (until it smells delicious but before it starts to burn), then add onion.
- When onion is softening, add celery and jalapenos.
- When vegetables are mostly cooked, push to one side of pot and put the chorizo in the other side. Let it cook for a minute or so, until it starts releasing oil, then stir it all up together
- Add the cooked chicken and a glug of red wine. Enjoy the fumes. When the wine has reduced a bit, stir in the rice and leave it to soak up oil while you boil some water.
- Add stock and the tin of tomatoes.
- Cover the pot and let the rice do its thing. When almost soft, stir in some frozen peas. If not spicy enough for your tastes, add half a bottle of Tabasco.
- Serve!
The rentals are en route to not-so-sunny South Africa as I type, which of course means that it has briefly stopped raining. I'm off to have some delicious cold pizza now, of which more anon.
