This is the nicest recipe I know - is delicious, easy, healthy and good for a dinner party (not that I give any of those). It's a persian way of cooking rice and you end up with a lovely crunchy crust underneath the rice which is apparently very prized in Iran.
Chicken Firuzabad with Fluffy Rice
8 oz basmati rice
2 tablespoons salt
2 oz butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 chicken breast joints
3 oz dried apricots, halved
2 oz prunes, pitted and halved
2 oz unbleached almonds in their skins
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I usually bump this up a bit)
1 pt water
salt and pepper
One hour before cooking, wash the rice thoroughly in a sieve. Drain and place in a bowl with the salt, cover with warm water and leave to soak.
In large iron or casserole dish, melt half the butter with the oil. Soften the onion over a medium heat then remove, turn up the heat and brown the chicken well. Return onions to the pan with all the other ingredients apart from the rice.
Pour the water over the ingredients, bring to boil then simmer for 30-40 mins.
Meanwhile, drain the rice, and cook in briskly boiling salted water for 4-6 minutes. Drain and leave to one side.
When chicken is cooked, take out the chicken and boil up the remaining sauce until thickened and syrupy. Empty the pan and wash and dry, then melt the remaining 1 oz of butter in the casserole, put in the drained rice, place the chicken on top and spoon the sauce over.
Cover the casserole with a teatowel and put the lid tightly on top, bringing the corners of the teatowel up so they don't burn. Cook over the lowest heat for 20-25 mins.
Serve, giving your favourite guests the biggest share of the crunchy layer of rice underneath!