Nothing says Brazil like a heaping serving of galinhada. This classic Brazilian chicken and rice dish is one of the most popular dishes on the country’s culinary landscape. It is simple to make and loaded with flavor—making it an excellent choice for both home cooks and professional chefs alike.
Galinhada is a Brazilian chicken and rice dish that has been around for centuries. Made with chicken, rice and spices. This traditional Brazilian dish is not that easy to find anywhere else in the world!
Galinhada Region
Galinhada is a rice dish from the beautiful country of Brazil which you might want to add to your healthy diet. This food is a healthy one that is cooked with chicken and saffron. It is a Brazilian dish that is made in the Algarve region, which also includes other famous dishes such as Bife de Chorizo (Pork Sirloin Steak) and Feijoada (Bean Stew).
It is a simple dish to prepare but can be time consuming if you are making it from scratch. Galinhada can be served at restaurants, but you can also make this delicious meal at home!
How to Make Galinhada?
Galinhada is not a hard dish to make and does not really require any professional skills, nor does it require many ingredients that are hard to finds. Galinhada can be made under 40 minutes and this insanely good dish will make you put it on your weekly food plan.
Ingredients
Being a Brazilian chicken and rice dish (which differ much from Tahchin), that has said to originate with the poor, who would find ways to make a hearty meal even out of scraps. The classic recipe is made with rice, saffron, parsley and onions; but there are many variations and substitutions.
To prepare the Galinhada, you will need:
- Chicken thighs (about 3 pounds) or drumsticks
- Long-grain white rice (¾ cup per person)
- Saffron threads (enough for 1 teaspoon per person)
- Parsley sprigs (1 tablespoon per person)
- Onion wedges (1 clove per person)
Instructions
This food is a one-pot rice dish (very similar to Biryani and you can actually use your Biryani pot in this task), which evolved from the traditional Brazilian dish Arroz de Galinha. You can make this recipe in any large pan that you have on hand, but we recommend using a heavy-bottomed pan (cast iron works great!) when making this dish. The chicken will release a lot of fat while it cooks, so you’ll want something sturdy enough to hold up to high temperatures without burning or sticking to the bottom of your pan. By the way if you have not ried sweet rice before, it is about time.. go for kleefrijst.
1: MARITIME THE CHICKEN
In a food processor, combine the onion, garlic, turmeric, vinegar, parsley, salt, and pepper to make a paste.
Dice the chicken thighs and combine them with the marinade in a bowl. Place in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.
2: COOK THE VEGETABLES
Sausage should be brown.
Keep the marinade for later and remove the chicken from the marinade.
On all sides, brown the chicken.
Sauté the carrot and onion.
White wine can be used to deglaze the pan. If you prefer, you can skip this step!
Cover and cook for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is tender, before adding the chicken broth.
3: COOK THE RICE
Rinse your rice first. We want our galinhada to be creamy but not sticky, so it’s best to rinse to remove any extra starch.
In the same pot as the chicken, add the rice, tomatoes, reserved marinade, bay leaves, and a little salt and pepper.
Cover and continue to simmer for an additional fifteen minutes, or until the rice is cooked.
Cover it and let it sit for ten minutes before adding the chopped parsley and serving!
To ensure that your galinhada comes out with nice golden coloration, use plenty of oil during cooking—at least 1 tablespoon per pound (450 grams) of meat!
Best Way to Cook Chicken
Roasting is the best cooking method for chicken. If you know how to make chicken kathi roll then you already are halfway through. Roast it at high heat and turn it over halfway through cooking. Cooking time will vary depending on how large your cutlets are, but you can expect about 15 minutes for each side for a small cutlet. Cook the chicken at 165 degrees F, which is right between pink and white meat on a thermometer.
Perfect Rice Cooking Tips
- The best rice cooking method is to use a pressure cooker.
- Most people will take the easy route and boil their rice in water, but that is not the best way to cook it. The stovetop method tends to be less efficient and can lead to overcooked or burnt rice. If you are going to use a pot on the stovetop, then make sure it has a tight-fitting lid so that steam does not escape as you are cooking your rice.
If you are not lucky enough to have a rice cooker, cooking rice in a pot is easy. Measure the amount of dry rice you need for your recipe and add twice as much liquid as the rice (so if you are making 1 cup of rice, use 2 cups of water). Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low heat and cover until all the water is absorbed by the grains (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving or refrigerating until ready to use!
Perfect Stew Cooking Tips
If you do not have access to either kind, you can also cook it without fancy equipment! Here is how: Place uncooked long grain white rice in a large bowl; add plenty of cold water so that it covers the grains by at least 1 inch (2 cm). Let soak at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to cooking — this will help soften up those hard outer shells on each grain so they will cook faster later on!
We hope that you enjoyed this post and learned more about galinhada. If you are a scorched rice person make sure to read (Everything about Nurungji), and if you want to try some different food that might blow you away read Mutabal & Hommus Dips. You have any questions or feedbacks? Just please leave the comments below!
