Curried hen with pilaf rice

1. Cut the hen into 6 to 8 pieces. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 20 g of butter in a casserole (or a large frying pan) and brown the pieces of poultry on all sides.

2. Meanwhile, boil 1.5 litres of water. Peel the onions and chop them more or less finely, depending on your taste.

3. Curried hen with pilaf rice 3 Remove the pieces of hen from the casserole and place them in a pressure cooker. Replace them with the grease, the equivalent of 2 chopped onions, the curry and nutmeg (dose to taste). Cook for 1 to 2 minutes without burning, then pour the spiced onions over the hen.

4. Deglaze the casserole with boiling water and pour into the pressure cooker over the hen and the onions. Add the salt, thyme and bay leaves. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 25 minutes per pound of poultry (or about 50 minutes).

5. As soon as the hen is cooked, keep it warm in its stock. Heat the rest of the grease in a large pan. Pour in the rice and the remaining chopped onions and brown them for 1 minute while stirring to soak every grain of rice. Then add the hen stock (twice the volume of rice). Cover and leave to simmer: all the stock should have been absorbed after 20 minutes.

To finish... Free range hens need 25 minutes in the pressure cooker per pound (50 minutes in a classic casserole). For ordinary poultry the cooking time is less: no more than 20 minutes per pound in the pressure cooker (maximum 40 minutes in a classic casserole). After having poured the stock over the rice, it can be finished in a covered container in the microwave (15 minutes at medium temperature, 450 Watts).