This recipe yields incredibly creamy rice and savory, tender chicken. It began its life as my mother’s chicken & rice casserole from childhood along with a favorite rice recipe of my own child’s. He enjoyed coconut curry rice, which I made by using chicken broth and coconut milk with curry powder instead of water when I made rice. Later it occurred to me to attempt a variation on Mom’s casserole, which involved cream of mushroom soup. Instead of canned soup, I used the broth, milk, and curry mixture from the rice recipe.

I always use chicken thighs in this recipe. For best results, use bone-in chicken thighs with the skin removed, though boneless skinless thighs are just fine too. I did try this with chicken breast one time, and it just didn’t work out. The overall cooking time necessary to cook the rice is too long for the chicken breast and it comes out tough and dry. I also tried it with the skins on the chicken thighs once, and the skin turns out rubbery and melts too much fat into the casserole. Also, stick to the broth-to-coconut milk ratio in the recipe, which is 2-to-1. I tried using the whole can of coconut milk once, filling out the remaining liquid with broth, and it was just too thick and fatty. The rice didn’t cook right.

Using a lid is important since this is a rice dish. If you don’t have a covered casserole, tightly cover whatever dish you use with aluminum foil.

Ingredients

2 lbs. thawed skinless chicken thighs, with or without bones
1 1/2 cups uncooked basmati or jasmine rice
1-15 oz. can coconut milk
2 cups chicken broth, stock, or bullion (preferably the paste variety)
2 1/2 tsp. curry
1/2 tsp. hot paprika (use sweet paprika for a less spicy dish)
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Remove skin from chicken thighs if necessary.

2. Combine chicken broth, stock, or bullion with 1 cup of the coconut milk, focusing on the thickened cream. If necessary, heat mixture in the microwave for 1 minute to melt coconut cream. Add curry, paprika, and salt to mixture and stir.

3. Pour rice into 2 quart covered casserole dish. Pour stock-and-milk mixture over rice and stir. Place chicken thighs on top of rice in a layer, submerging them beneath coconut milk mixture as well as possible.

4. Place lid on casserole and bake for 90 minutes.

5. Let set for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with steamed or roasted vegetables or a salad.