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Freshly cooked rice is very soft and fragrant, but its soft and moist texture makes it not ideal for fried rice. This Nigerian curry dish uses plain rice that is cooked cold to give the rice grains a light and fluffy texture. This recipe, featured in Milk Street's newest cookbook, 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year, seasons rice with curry powder, dried thyme, and various flavorings. Beef liver and various vegetables are standard ingredients, but we opted for chicken thighs and green beans. First season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper and curry powder and then fry them in hot oil until smooth. Then set the chicken aside and stir in the fragrant white scallion and fresh ginger mixture, as well as green bean curry powder, jalapeño peppers and thyme.

Curry fried chicken rice with chili pepper:

Time to finish: 40 minutes

When the green beans turn light, add the cooked and cooled rice and pour the chicken broth into the pan. After adding the soup, don't be afraid to scrape up the browned bits from the surface of the pan. The caramelization adds depth to the rice. Fragrant basmati is particularly delicious, but any long-grain white rice will work too.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of neutral oil or refined coconut oil are divided
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces.
2 teaspoons curry powder (divided)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
4 thinly sliced spring onions, white and green, stored separately
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
Trim and cut 4 ounces green beans into 1-inch pieces.
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 Fresno pepper or jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced
4 cups cooked and cooled long grain white rice, preferably basmati
1 cup low sodium chicken soup

Preparation:

In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of oil until just smoking.

Add the chicken and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until completely browned, 4 to 6 minutes.

Press the chicken all over the pot. In the center, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the white scallions, and the ginger. Cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Stir beans, thyme, half the chili pepper, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper into the scallion mixture.

Stir the chicken into the bean mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans turn bright green, about 2 minutes.

Stir the rice, add the broth, and scrape up the browned bits. Cook, stirring, until liquid is absorbed, 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Scatter the spring onion leaves and remaining chili pepper over the top and serve.