Rice with Chilli Chicken and Vegetables

Ingredients (Marinade)

• Chilli Oil
• Honey
• Soy Sauce
• Lemon Juice
• Garlic Cloves/Powder
• Onion Powder
• Chilli Flakes

Ingredients (Meal)

• Chicken Thigh Fillet (marinated and cut in cubes)
• Brown Rice (zilvervlies rijst)
• Onions
• Bell Pepper
• Smoked Paprika
• Cumin
• Garlic Powder/Cloves
• Onion Powder
• Stock or Water + Stock Cubes/Powder (any kind, I use chicken)

Preparation

• Start the evening before or in the morning. Cut the chicken (if you're not buying pre-cut), put it in a ziplock bag. Add the ingredients for the marinade. This is a loose recipe and mostly to taste, and dependent on how much chicken you use. I add a lot of chilli oil, half a tablespoon to a tablespoon of honey, about a tablespoon of soy sauce, a glug of lemon juice, and at least a teaspoon of all spices. Just kinda eyeball it. Mix until well incorporated/distributed and the chicken is thoroughly coated. Let rest in fridge until it's time to cook.
• Chop the onion and press the garlic cloves (if using cloves, you can also just add more garlic powder in a pinch). Get the pot you're baking in and bake the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion is glassy.
• While the onion is cooking, chop the bell pepper.
• Add the bell pepper to the onion. Add the spices; they are to taste, but I use a small amount of smoked paprika and cumin, and a good bit of garlic and onion powder. Bake for a bit, covering the pan so the juices don't evaporate.
• Add rice. Eyeball the amount of rice and learn the hard way how much rice is desireable to add. More than half but less than a full cup is a good general guesstimate.
• Add stock/water + stock cubes/powder. The rice and vegetables should barely be covered, max. a knuckle of water above them.
• Cook the rice and vegetables for 15-20 minutes. Check on it at least once and preferably more often to make sure there's still enough water for them to boil.
• In a separate pan, cook and brown the chicken.
• Once the rice is done cooking and you've used the perfect amount of water, the water should have been completely absorbed by the rice. If you used too much water, you'll have to strain the rice. If you used too little water, have fun scraping burnt rice off the bottom of your pan. I recommend letting it soak in water for at least a day.
• Add chicken to the rice and mix it in.

Tips

• Amount of bell pepper and onion is basically 'however much you have and think would taste good'. I use a minimum two of each.
• You should probably wash the rice beforehand but I can never be bothered.
• This chicken has a tendency to burn quickly once it starts browning. Keep an eye on it.
• In general chicken takes less time to cook than you think it does, and gets dry if you keep going after. It can be tricky to brown it properly.
• Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for a few days.