A fragrant yet mild middle eastern spiced chicken with chickpea and cranberry pilaf bursting with middle eastern flavours and all cooked in one pot!

Middle Eastern Spiced Chicken with Chickpea & Cranberry Pilaf

Published on | In By
13 Comments
    • Prep Time
    • Minutes
    • Cook Time
    • Minutes
    • Yield
    • 4
    • 4

A fragrant spiced middle eastern chicken with  chickpea and cranberry pilaf bursting with flavour and all cooked in one pot!

Every mouthful of this Middle Eastern Spiced Chicken with Chickpea & Cranberry Pilaf is bursting with middle eastern, spicy deliciousness!  The pop of cranberry combined with the earthy coriander and cumin chicken skin will entice even the fussiest of eaters.

The restrained spiciness of  this dish makes it a very family friendly, one pot dinner, suitable for entertaining or a mid week dinner.

This is a perfect recipe for introducing spice to your family menu, without hitting everyone over the head with the heat of chili.  Of course, if you prefer something with a bit more kick, you can add some dried chili or cayenne pepper to the spice mix for the marinade.

And, if you are lucky, the kids will be so busy enjoying the crispy skin of the chicken and the sweet pop of cranberry that they won’t even notice the chickpeas!

Ingredients

  • MARINADE
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced (or 2 small cloves)
  • 1 TBS ground coriander
  • 1 TBS ground cumin
  • 1 TBS smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • 4 TBS lime juice
  • CHICKEN
  • 4-6 chicken pieces with skin on bone
  • ½ tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 red onion finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1½ cups rice (basmati)
  • 1½ cups salt-reduced chicken stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 400gm can chickpeas, drained
  • 1/4 cup of dried cranberries
  • Parsley, lemon zest and sour cream/yoghurt to garnish

Instructions

  1. Combine marinade garlic and spices and pound in a mortar and pestle until finely ground and pasty, mix in lime juice and pour marinade into a large zip lock bag, add chicken, seal bag and massage marinade into chicken until covered.
  2. Marinate chicken for as long as possible (overnight) or not at all.
  3. Preheat oven to 180C
  4. Heat oil in a large oven proof pan over medium heat. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook for 5 minutes on each side, or until browned slightly, set chicken aside.
  5. Add garlic and onion and cook for 2 minutes until translucent.
  6. Stir in rice and toss through onion mix until grains are coated in the oil and rice becomes a bit translucent.
  7. Add remaining ingredients and sit chicken on top
  8. Bring to simmer, then cover and transfer to the oven.
  9. Bake for 35 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for a further 10 minutes.
  10. Remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes.
  11. Garnish with herbs, lemon and dollop of sour cream/yogurt

13 Responses to Middle Eastern Spiced Chicken with Chickpea & Cranberry Pilaf

  1. Ai Ping | Curious Nut at #

    This is right up my alley! I love chicken and I love pilaf! Looks too good.

    Reply
    • Ange at #

      I hope you enjoy it…its very tasty!

      Reply
  2. evankristine at #

    delicious! my boyfriend is a huge pilaf fan, i’ll try your recipe since it looks different from what i am used to make 😀

    Reply
  3. Amanda | The Cinnamon Scrolls at #

    This looks great! I’m a sucker for one-pot meals (I HATE dishes), so this is right up my alley. Loving the chicken-cranberry-chickpea combo!

    Reply
    • Ange at #

      I hear you on the dishes! And I don’t even have a dishwasher. My granddaugther loves to sing “life dishes, death dishes….” whenever she sees me at the kitchen sink…yep so I too am a big fan of the one pot meal!

      Reply
  4. Mark at #

    Ange, this looks delicious. I like your combination of spices and chicken wings are finger licking good! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  5. Olivia @ Olivia's Cuisine at #

    Looks absolutely scrumptious! My kind of meal!

    Reply
  6. Anne at #

    The title says it’s a cranberry pilaf but there are no cranberries in the ingredients or directions…

    Reply
    • Ange at #

      Thank you so much for letting me know Anne, can’t have a Cranberry Pilaf without cranberries!!!

      1/4 cup of dried cranberries have now been added to the ingredients list. They are added during the “add remaining ingredients step”.

      I hope you enjoy.

      Reply
      • Anne at #

        I made it without cranberries (but ended up adding golden raisins and pine nuts) and it was delicious! I tried it with a smoked basmati rice, which was a little much for my tastes, but the chicken was amazing.

        Reply
        • Ange at #

          I love the addition of pine nuts Anne. And the golden raisins is a nice sweet substitute for the cranberries too.

          Thanks for coming back and letting me know.

          A xxx

          Reply
  7. Maureen | Orgasmic Chef at #

    This is the sort of meal that you can prep and forget. I LOVE this!!

    Reply
    • Ange at #

      The best kind of meals I agree Maureen

      Reply

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