Chicken Paella Recipe

To make this balanced and healthy recipe
paella pans
you can use any of them. 

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken (1- 1.5 kg.)
  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 tea glass of olive oil
  • 1 minced onion
  • 2 diced tomatoes
  • 1 chopped green pepper
  • 1 chopped red pepper
  • 1,5 cups of rice
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Half a teaspoon of saffron or haspir
  • 1 cup boiled peas
  • Half a bunch of chopped parsley
  • Salt, black pepper

How to Make

  1. First soak the rice with warm water. Smoke the chicken and cut it into 8-10 pieces
  2. Put in a pot and boil in 2-3 cups of water. Put 5-6 pieces in a separate bowl to use on top.
  3. Separate the other pieces from the bones and shred them.
  4. In a separate place, fry the onion in olive oil.
  5. Add tomatoes, green pepper and red pepper and fry for 2 more minutes. Drain the rice and add to the pot.
  6.  After adding the chopped garlic, saffron and peas, add 3 cups of water (including the boiling water). Season with salt and black pepper.
  7. Place the reserved chicken pieces on top.  (if you wish, you can also add these pieces after frying them in 1 teaspoon of cress oil with 1 teaspoon of red pepper powder).
  8. Cover and cook. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
  9.  

What are the essentials of paella?

  • One of the most important features of paella is the use of rice that can stick together like risotto. The consistency is not grainy like pilaf, but a little more like porridge. The rice that is commonly available in our country is not very suitable for this recipe because it does not stick due to the nature of pilaf, but I think the most suitable rice for paella in terms of shape and size will be osmancık.

Is paella suitable for Turkish palate?

  • From the outside, paella may look like our kind of dish, but I think it is too complicated for the Turkish palate. Our home cooking is more refined. They are made with a single type of ingredient. In paella, each spoonful has a different flavor and I think this is confusing for a Turk. In our country, the same flavor is felt in every spoon. In paella, if the spoon is filled with chicken, it is chicken rice, if it is filled with vegetables, it is vegetable dish, if it is only rice, it is spicy rice. When you reach the end of the meal, you get the feeling of what I just ate. Everyone’s palate is different, of course, this is just my own conclusion based on my own observations.