Chicken Yassa & Rice

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 5 brown onions (about 750 g)
• 3 lemons
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp groundnut oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 280 g long-grain rice
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large mixing bowl
• Flameproof casserole dish with lid
• Saucepan
• Colander
• Citrus juicer
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Squeeze the lemons to get about 120 ml of juice. In a large mixing bowl, mix the juice, mustard, peeled and crushed garlic, 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp salt and some pepper. Cut the chicken into 4 to 5 cm pieces and coat them well in the marinade.
2. Peel the onions, halve them, then cut them into thin half-moons. Add them to the bowl and mix with your hands so everything is well coated. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, ideally 2 hours.
3. Lift the chicken pieces out of the marinade, letting them drain. Heat the rest of the oil in the casserole dish over a high heat and brown the chicken for 2 to 3 minutes per side, in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pot. Set aside on a plate.
4. Lower the heat to medium. Drain the onions, keeping the marinade juices, tip them into the pot and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, until tender and starting to turn golden.
5. Return the chicken to the pot and add the marinade juices, bay leaves, crumbled stock cube and 200 ml water. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 30 minutes over a low heat, stirring halfway through: the onions should become meltingly soft and the sauce slightly syrupy.
6. Meanwhile, rinse the rice in a sieve, then cook it in a large pan of boiling salted water for the time given on the packet (about 12 minutes). Drain and keep warm, covered.
7. At the end of cooking, taste the sauce: if it is too sharp, let it reduce for 5 minutes uncovered; if it is too thick, add a little water. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, then remove the bay leaves.
8. Divide the rice between shallow bowls and top with a generous ladle of soft onions and chicken pieces. Spoon over the sauce and serve immediately.