Chicken jambalaya

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
300g lean pork cut into 3cm cubes (I used a pork rib, minus the bone)
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup green capsicum, chopped
half a cup thinly sliced scallion tops (the green bits)
3-4 sprigs lemon thyme
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
half a cup finely chopped parsley
1 cup smoked sausage, 1cm slices (I used 2 kransky sausages)
3 teaspoons salt
half a teaspoon chilli, ground
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cloves, ground
2 bay leaves
1 å_ cups long grain rice
3 cups water

Method

Wash chicken with cold water then pat dry with paper towel.

Heat a heavy-bottomed 6 litre saucepan on high and add oil.

Brown chicken pieces, making sure to brown them all over for optimal flavour. Once pieces are browned, place them on a plate until all done.

To the saucepan, add pork, onion, capsicum, scallion, lemon thyme, garlic and parsley. Stir to combine and brown, then reduce temperature slightly and cook for 15 minutes stirring regularly.

Add sausage, salt, chilli, paprika, cloves, and bay leaves, cook and stir for a further 5 minutes.

Add browned chicken, rice and water then mix gently to combine.

Turn up the heat and bring back to a boil, stirring. Cover with a lid and turn the temperature back down to low and cook for 40 minutes.

Stir occasionally to prevent sticking, once ready let sit for a few minutes off the heat then serve straight away.

Notes

This is a classic New Orleans dish and tastes really yummy.
My best advice for this recipe is to have everything ready to go- veggies chopped, spices measured out, sausage chopped etc before cooking. Once everything is prepped, it is just a matter of stirring and well worth the work, I promise.
If you are not confident with cutting a whole chicken, you can chicken thighs (with the bone in) and legs. Just make sure the skin is left on as this is where the flavour is coming from.
Recipe created by Camilla Baker for Kidspot, New Zealands best recipe finder.

Serving Suggestions

Note