Chef Juliette
Abatis aux Navets
Glazed turnips, pearl onions, and tender poultry giblets settle into a pale, glossy sauce, with crisp-edged salt pork lending depth: a thrifty braise whose whole success rests on cooking the flour first.
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Pilaw de Volaille
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1678, Pilaw de Volaille, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Pilaw de Volaille keeps its two promises apart: chicken simmered in a mild curry sauce, rice cooked nacré in butter and stock, then the two brought together only on the plate.
Main Dishes
French
Weeknight
Comfort Food
One Pot
25 min
Active Time
55 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield4 servings
Pilaw de Volaille (poultry pilaf) teaches separation. The chicken is handled as a curry; the rice gets its own butter, stock, and covered cooking. Do not simmer them together. The one-pot promise belongs only to Pilaw à la Parisienne, while this entry depends on clear grains beside sauce-coated fowl.
The source gives the governing method rather than fixed quantities, so this home formula keeps that method and gives it a restrained French curry seasoning for four. The grand-kitchen arrangement assumed a saucier at the curry pan, an entremetier at the rice, and stock never off the fire. Two ordinary pans, one good prepared chicken stock, and staggered timing replace those extra hands. Parallel stations were scaffolding; separate cooking is the dish. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The step to guard is nacrer (coat until pearly): let every drained grain turn glossy in butter before the stock enters. That film, followed by quiet covered cooking and a proper rest, gives you rice that stays itself when the sauce arrives beside it.
Pilaw entered the French classical repertoire through Parisian grand kitchens, borrowing from a broad family of rice methods running from Persia through eastern Mediterranean tables rather than from one single national dish. In this classification, pilaff did not automatically mean meat and grain cooked together: curry-treated fowl and pilaw rice were normally prepared apart, with Pilaw à la Parisienne as the named exception. Nor is the rice Riz à l'Indienne; butter, stock, and covered cooking give it its own structure.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in chicken pieces
Quantity
8 pieces (about 3 lb 5 oz / 1.5 kg)
4 thighs and 4 drumsticks, patted dry
fine salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g)
divided
black pepper
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g)
freshly ground
unsalted butter
Quantity
7 tablespoons (105 ml / 100 g)
divided
yellow onion
Quantity
1¾ cups (425 ml / 280 g)
finely chopped and divided
mild curry powder
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 8 g)
all-purpose flour
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 16 g)
light, unsalted chicken stock
Quantity
4½ cups (1.06 L / 1.06 kg)
divided and kept warm
bouquet garni of parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaf
Quantity
1 small bouquet
long-grain white rice
Quantity
1½ cups (375 ml / 285 g)
rinsed until the water runs clear and drained for 15 minutes
heavy cream
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 120 g)
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in chicken pieces4 thighs and 4 drumsticks, patted dry | 8 pieces (about 3 lb 5 oz / 1.5 kg) |
| fine saltdivided | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) |
| black pepperfreshly ground | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided | 7 tablespoons (105 ml / 100 g) |
| yellow onionfinely chopped and divided | 1¾ cups (425 ml / 280 g) |
| mild curry powder | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 8 g) |
| all-purpose flour | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 16 g) |
| light, unsalted chicken stockdivided and kept warm | 4½ cups (1.06 L / 1.06 kg) |
| bouquet garni of parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaf | 1 small bouquet |
| long-grain white ricerinsed until the water runs clear and drained for 15 minutes | 1½ cups (375 ml / 285 g) |
| heavy cream | ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) |
| fresh lemon juice | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch (30 cm) heavy sauté pan with lid
- •2½-quart (2.4 L) ovenproof saucepan with tight-fitting lid
- •Large heatproof measuring jug
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the two parts
Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Warm the chicken stock in the rice saucepan, then pour it into a heatproof measuring jug and keep it covered. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon of the salt and all the pepper. Have the remaining ingredients measured before the chicken meets the pan, because the curry powder and flour follow one another quickly.
- 2
Brown the chicken
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, brown the chicken in two batches, beginning skin-side down and turning only when it releases easily. Aim for an even light bronze, not a dark roasted crust, about 8 to 10 minutes altogether. Set the pieces aside. If the butter begins to blacken, lower the heat at once and wipe out the burnt specks before continuing; bitter butter will follow the sauce all the way to the table.
- 3
Build the curry
Lower the heat to medium and add 2 tablespoons of butter with 1½ cups of the chopped onion. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent without taking colour. Add the curry powder and stir for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Singer (dust with flour) the onions, then cook for 2 minutes so the flour loses its raw smell. Gradually whisk in 2¼ cups (530 ml) of the warm stock, scraping the chicken fond from the pan floor. Add the bouquet garni and return the chicken, skin-side up. Partially cover and hold at a bare simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the thickest pieces reach at least 165°F (74°C) and the joints move freely.
- 4
Cook the pilaw rice
As soon as the chicken settles into its simmer, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the clean ovenproof saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the remaining ¼ cup onion and cook without browning for 3 minutes. Add the well-drained rice and nacrer it for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring gently, until every grain gleams with butter and the edges look translucent. Pour in 2 cups (470 ml) of the warm stock, add ¾ teaspoon salt, and bring it to one full boil. Cover tightly, transfer to the oven, and bake for 18 minutes without stirring or lifting the lid.
No ovenproof saucepan? Keep the covered pan over the lowest possible heat for 16 to 18 minutes. Do not stir. Quiet cooking protects the grains. - 5
Finish the sauce
Lift the cooked chicken onto a warm plate and discard the bouquet garni. Boil the sauce uncovered for 3 to 5 minutes, until it lightly naps the back of a spoon. Lower the heat, stir in the cream, and simmer gently for 2 minutes before adding the lemon juice. Taste and correct the salt, then return the chicken to warm through. If the sauce becomes too thick, whisk in the reserved stock a tablespoon at a time. If it looks grainy after the cream enters, take it off the heat and whisk in a spoonful of cold cream. Ça se rattrape.
- 6
Rest and fluff
Remove the rice from the oven and leave it covered for 5 minutes. Fold in the final tablespoon of butter with a fork, lifting rather than stirring, and taste for salt. If the rice is still firm and the pan is dry, sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of the reserved hot stock, cover, and rest for another 5 minutes. If it is wet, spread the grains loosely in the uncovered pan and return them to the oven for 3 minutes. Never beat wet rice into submission; give the moisture somewhere to go.
- 7
Serve them apart
Spoon the rice in a loose mound along one side of a warm platter. Arrange the chicken beside it and pour the curry sauce around the meat, leaving the rice distinct rather than flooding it. Bring any remaining sauce to the table separately. The two preparations belong on the same plate, not in the same pan. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Use thighs and drumsticks of similar size so they finish together. Breast meat cooks before the sauce has found its body and becomes dry while everyone waits for the rice.
- •Choose a mild, fragrant curry powder rather than a blend built chiefly on heat. Bloom it briefly in butter, but don't let it darken; scorched spice tastes bitter, and no quantity of cream can disguise it.
- •Prepared stock is the honest home equivalent of the stockpot once kept constantly at the back of the range. Use an unsalted stock with real chicken flavour. If yours tastes thin, reduce it before measuring the recipe quantity.
- •This version needs two cooking vessels because the source makes separate treatment its governing rule. Combining meat and rice in one pot changes the dish into the Parisienne exception.
Advance Preparation
- •The chicken and its curry base can be cooked one day ahead. Chill promptly, then reheat at a bare simmer and add the cream and lemon only at the finish.
- •The onions can be chopped and the dry ingredients measured earlier in the day. Cook the rice shortly before serving, because chilled pilaw loses the suppleness that butter and covered cooking give it.
- •Cool leftovers within 2 hours and refrigerate the chicken and rice in separate shallow containers for up to 3 days. Reheat each to 165°F (74°C), loosening the sauce with a spoonful of stock if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 590g)
Calories
1110 calories
Total Fat
69 g
Saturated Fat
30 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
38 g
Cholesterol
340 mg
Sodium
1500 mg
Total Carbohydrates
69 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
54 g
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