Arroz de frango: Portuguese chicken and chouriço rice

A soupy, comforting pot of rice cooked with chicken, smoky chouriço, tomato and peppers, the kind of thing Portuguese grandmothers make on a Sunday. Loose and spoonable rather than dry like a paella.

Ingredients

• 600 g Chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, cut into chunks
• 100 g Chorizo, sliced
• 20 ml Olive oil
• 1 Onions, chopped
• 0.3 Garlic, chopped
• 1 Peppers, red, diced
• 5 g Paprika
• 0.5 g Bay leaves
• 2 Tomatoes, chopped
• 20 g Tomato purée
• 300 g Paella rice
• 1 Chicken stock cubes, made up with 1.2 litres hot water
• 100 g Frozen peas
• 10 g Fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 Lemons, cut into wedges

Method

1. Fry the chorizo in the oil in a large casserole until it releases its oil. Add the chicken and brown it.
2. Add the onion, garlic and pepper and cook until soft.
3. Stir in the paprika, bay, tomatoes and tomato purée and cook until the tomatoes break down.
4. Add the rice and most of the stock and simmer, stirring now and then, until the rice is just tender. Add more stock as needed: it should stay loose and soupy.
5. Stir in the peas for the last 3 minutes, then the parsley. Serve straight away with lemon wedges.