AI-generated image
Galinhada
Chicken and turmeric rice
Galinhada: Goiás chicken and rice cooked together with golden turmeric, often with pequi
Sunday lunches, church festas and roadside restaurants in Goiás all revolve around a big pot of galinhada: chicken browned with garlic and onion, then cooked with rice in its own stock until each grain is golden from açafrão-da-terra. In Brazil that word means turmeric, not true saffron, and it is turmeric that gives the dish its colour. Goianos add pequi, the cerrado fruit with a heady, cheesy-tropical scent; you can buy it in jars in Brazilian shops, but warn your guests: the stone is covered in fine spines under the flesh, so nibble gently and never bite into it. It comes out moist, fragrant and comforting, finished with plenty of cheiro-verde. The common mistake is adding too much water, which makes it mushy; the rice should be loose, like a paella that has just settled. Chef's tip: brown the chicken until it leaves a dark crust in the pot, then let the rice dissolve it.
- Total time
- 70 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 2 ⅝ lb bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticksskin removed, cut into pieces
- 1 limejuiced
- 5 cloves garliccrushed
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onionchopped
- 1 green pepperchopped
- 1 tomatochopped
- 6 pequi in brine (optional)drained; optional
- 14 oz long-grain white ricerinsed
- 3 ¾ cups boiling water
- 5 tbsp parsley and spring onionchopped
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Rub 2 ⅝ lb bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks with 1 lime, 2 ½ cloves garlic and 1 tsp salt, cover and leave in the fridge for 20 minutes.
20 minStep 2: Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a large, heavy pot over a medium-high heat and brown the chicken for 10 minutes, turning, until deep golden all over.
10 minStep 3: Add 1 onion, 1 green pepper and the rest of 2 ½ cloves garlic and cook for 4 minutes, then add 1 tomato, 1 tsp ground turmeric (açafrão-da-terra) and 6 pequi in brine, if using, and cook for 3 minutes.
7 minStep 4: Pour in 300 ml of 1 ¼ cups boiling water, cover and simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes.
15 minStep 5: Stir in 14 oz long-grain white rice until coated, add the rest of 2 ½ cups boiling water and 1 tsp salt, bring back to the boil, then cover and cook on a low heat for 18 minutes until the rice is tender and the chicken reaches 165°F at the bone.
18 minStep 6: Rest off the heat, covered, for 5 minutes. Fork through 5 tbsp parsley and spring onion and serve from the pot.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 32 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does galinhada take?
- About 70 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of lime?
- Lemon, same amount.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
PingadoHot milk with coffee
Order 'um pingado' at the balcão of any São Paulo padaria at 7 in the morning and the attendant pours hot milk into a ridged glass tumbler (the copo americano) and 'drips' in a splash of strong coffee, hence the name. It is milkier and gentler than a média (half coffee, half milk), creamy and lightly sweet, usually drunk standing up with a pão na chapa, a toasted buttered roll. At home you need strong filter coffee and milk heated until steaming. Scalding the milk is the frequent mistake, as boiled milk tastes flat and forms a skin. Chef's tip: froth the hot milk for a few seconds with a whisk or by pouring it back and forth between two jugs before adding the coffee, as padaria machines do.
Arroz con pitu de caleyaSoupy rice with chicken
A pitu de caleya is a cockerel raised free in the lanes, or caleyas, of rural Asturias; its firm, flavourful meat needs long stewing, and families around Villaviciosa and Grado still cook it for feast days. The stew is often finished as a soupy rice, so the deep chicken juices go into every grain. Use the best free-range chicken you can find. The braise includes dry white wine; replace it with extra stock and a squeeze of lemon if you want it alcohol-free. Chef's tip: brown the chicken slowly and deeply; that colour is where the flavour of the whole pot comes from.
Spanish
Bobó de camarãoPrawns in cassava and coconut purée
Velvety, coral-coloured and rich with coconut, bobó de camarão is what Bahian families put on the table when there is something to celebrate, and beach restaurants from Praia do Forte to Itacaré serve it in clay pots with white rice and farofa. Cassava is boiled until it falls apart, blended with coconut milk into a smooth cream, then folded into prawns cooked with onion, tomato, peppers and a slick of dendê oil. The result is somewhere between a stew and a thick sauce, sweet from the prawns and gently earthy from the cassava. A frequent mistake is boiling the prawns in the purée for too long, which leaves them tough and curled; they go in at the very end. Cassava must always be cooked right through, never eaten raw: cut out the woody core and boil it until a knife meets no resistance. Chef's tip: blend the cassava while it is still hot, with some of its cooking water; cold cassava turns gluey in the blender.