My Mother’s Special Sunday Lunch – Greek Chicken with Passata Sauce, Risoni-Rice and Baked Okra Recipe
I remake my mother’s Special Sunday Lunch – Kotopoulo Kokkinisto me Bamies kai Pilafi – a step-by-step guide on how to make a traditional Greek Chicken in a Tomato Sauce served with Risoni-Rice and Baked Okra Recipe. My mother would prepare this dish when she had special guests for lunch on a Sunday. I learned how to make it and I have been doing the same for many years!
Click here to see the Greek Risoni-Rice Recipe.
Ingredients
- For the kotopoulo kokkinisto you will need…
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 2 medium brown onions, diced
- 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
- Dried chillies, to taste
- 12 chicken thighs
- 1.5-2 tsp salt
- 1.5 tsp black pepper, cracked
- 675 ml passata
- For the okra you will need…
- 1 kg okra
- EVOO
- Salt
- For the risoni-rice (pilafi) using a rice cooker you will need…
- ⅔ cup risoni
- ⅛-¼ cup EVOO
- 2 cups medium grain rice
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 ½ cups water
Method
- Preparing the kotopoulo kokkinisto
- Sauté the brown onions with the EVOO, in a medium-large pan, on medium-high heat, till lightly golden
- Add the garlic and sauté very briefly
- Add the chicken thighs and brown on each side – if using a non-stick pan – or till some fond forms if not using a non-stick pan
- Add the dried chillies, salt, pepper and passata and stir through
- Heat till it comes to a gentle boil
- Cover pan with slightly vented aluminium foil and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 1 hour
- Remove the foil and bake for a further 15-20 minutes, till the chicken browns a little and all of the water has been reduced out of the pan
- Preparing the okra
- Using a paring knife, make an angled incision into the okra just below the visible line that separates the stalk from the fruit. Continue cutting around the okra to form a conical pyramid at the top of the okra.
- Wash the okra and drain
- Place in a medium to large pan, drizzle with EVOO and season with salt
- Bakein an oven preheated to 180°C for 30 minutes or so, till the okra brown on the underside
- Thentoss them in the pan and return them to the oven for 15-20 minutes so they brown some more
- For therisoni-rice using a rice-cooker
- Brown the risoni with the EVOO in a fry pan
- Wash the rice well
- Add the rice, risoni, water and salt to the rice-cooker and cook according to the Rice-Cooker’s cooking instructions Alternatively, if you would like to use a regular pot to cook the risoni-rice, follow this method - /kos-risoni-rice/
- Serve the kotopoulo kokkinisto me bamies kai pilafi
- Fill a lightly-oiled cup with the pilafi and gently pack it in
- Turn the cup upside down over a serving plate and gently tap it to release the mound of pilafi
- Add 1-2 chicken thighs to the plate and pour some of the tomato sauce on top
- Add okra to the plate and a generous dollop of thick Greek yoghurt Kali Orexi!