One Pan Roast Madras Chicken and Pilau Rice

Juicy, roasted madras chicken with gentle delicious spice, cooked in one dish with an incredible pilau rice to serve alongside it.

Yes, you read that right! This is a one pan roast chicken and rice recipe, where the whole chicken roasts and the delicious rice cooks along with it. All in the same pan, no fuss, no hassle. Minimal washing up AND perfect rice every time!

Now, there are several one pan chicken and rice recipes out there, but this uses the whole chicken rather than thighs or breast. It makes the chicken really tender and juicy, the rice INCREDIBLY flavourful (it’s cooked in all of those delicious chicken juices) and it works wonderfully as a simple Sunday dinner or dinner party meal.

I used curry type flavours here to make the chicken just delicious. The rice becomes like a pilau rice, cooked in chicken stock with turmeric and cardamom pods. I served it with some cucumber raita (I’ve included this in the recipe below so you can easily make it if you wish) and my easy one pot saag paneer.

More roast chicken recipes:

• Persian Roast Spatchcock Chicken
• Greek Style Roast Chicken and Vegetables
• One Pan Mediterranean Roast Chicken and Vegetables with Garlic Yoghurt
• The Juiciest Brined Chicken

One Pan Roast Madras Chicken and Pilau Rice – The Ingredients

• Chicken – this recipe calls for a medium chicken, and will serve at least 4 (more if you add more sides!). If you want a larger chicken, increase the initial cooking time accordingly. The rice needs 50 minutes regardless. Pro tip – buy the best quality chicken you can afford. The cheapest chickens will have much less meat per pound of your money spent, and of course there is a welfare issue too. When you spend more, you get better taste.
• Natural yoghurt – this is used for both the chicken marinade and the raita. You could also use Greek yoghurt.
• Madras curry powder – this is the one I used. If you can’t get hold of it, you can easily make your own – here’s a good recipe.
• Plain white rice – just use bog standard plain rice.
• Turmeric – ground turmeric brings the rice its beautiful golden colour.
• Cardamom pods – add an incredible fragrant flavour to the rice.
• Chicken stock – you could switch for 800ml boiling water and one good chicken stock cube.
• Cucumber and mint – for that beautiful cooling raita.

Cooking the Roast Chicken and Rice

This recipe is so easy! Trust the process and make sure you follow the steps. Here are some things to bear in mind while you cook:

• This cooking time is for a 1.5kg chicken. If yours is bigger or smaller, you will need to adjust the initial cooking time (when it’s just the chicken in the oven). A cooked chicken will reach 74 degrees celsius internally, if you have a meat thermometer.
• You can leave the chicken to marinade in the yoghurt mix for up to 12 hours in the fridge. The longer you leave it, the more flavourful it will be. If you’re in a rush, though, you can just put it straight in the oven – it will still be delicious.
• When you add the rice and stock, make sure that all of the rice is covered with liquid. You’ll then need to make sure that the pan is tightly covered with kitchen foil. Together, these two things will ensure that you have perfectly cooked rice. When you take the pan out of the oven, you’ll notice that some of the rice is crunchy at the bottom of the pan. These are the best bits – try not to fight over them!

More delicious Indian style recipes:

• Paneer and Vegetable Wraps
• Easy One Pot Saag Paneer
• Black Lentil Dal
• Courgette and Coconut Dal
• Lamb and Spinach Curry
• Slow Cooked Beef Curry
• Chicken Balti
• One Pan Roast Chicken and Rice
• Curried Lentil Soup
• Chicken, Spinach and Paneer Naan Pizzas
• The Creamiest Butter Halloumi Curry