Made this last night with chicken thighs. The flavors were really nice and not overpowering at all. I substituted a pinch of cayenne for the Aleppo pepper because I ran out. I also didn't toast the nuts but they still gave the dish a nice contrast in texture. Everyone enjoyed it. Thanks again.

Congratulations Dawn,,this was just like you described it exotic, inexpensive and highly-flavorful,,,Middle Eastern real,,,,,

For health reasons, I'm trying to stay away from white rice as much as possible. I find, though, that the brown rice needs more time, and perhaps even more spice mix, to make it palatable.

What I did:

I used brown basmati rice. For the sake of time, I cooked the onions, rice (1 1/2 cups stock) and spices about 1/2 way (12 minutes high pressure in a pressure cooker and 10 minutes natural pressure release.) I increased the spices to 1 1/2 tsp aleppo pepper, and doubled the coriander portion of the spice mix.

Once this was cooked, I combined ingredients (including a couple of drops of rose water) into a casserole. I topped the rice with a layer of unbleached wax paper (to seal in the steam), I added a layer of tin foil to the top for additional steam control. I placed this in the oven for 35 minutes to steam open the grains. I then let the rice rest for about 10 minutes uncovered, added the nuts and chopped cilantro while fluffing up, and then served.

It was quite good, but was wondering if there are easier ways to steam the brown rice grains open in an oven casserole. (I learned the wax paper/foil technique from an Indian cook who makes Biryani in this manner.

You may want to check out the lessons in the Rice & Grains section. We go into quite a bit of detail about steaming methods and the pilaf method for cooking rice. Cheers!

Hi there, I love this recipe! But I do have a question about the amount of ras el hanout added to the chicken. The recipe calls for 1/2 tsp but that seems like a really small amount for the amount of chicken. I always end up adding more.

Yes, definitely feel free to adjust the seasonings in any recipe. Since the flavors in ras el hanout can vary greatly depending on the spices that were mixed together, 1/2 tsp may be enough in some cases. But good that you made adjustments to suit your tastes - that's what it is all about. Cheers!