Paella with Chicken

I'm back and I brought this amazing recipe with me! A Spanish paella!
If you have ever been to Spain then there's a great chance that you have tasted this amazing dish or at least walked by restaurants which offer a variety.

This dish originated in Valencia but today is very common throughout the whole country. Personally I was a little afraid to try out this recipe because it is quite difficult to make - but I went to visit my dad and guess what he just bought ... Yes, that's right . A paellera! And that dear all, is the pan you need to master a good paella, the thing to master a perfect paella is probably to be Spanish.

Anyways, we decided to try out a paella on our own and this beauty was the result!
Please excuse the poor quality, I didn't bring my camera and had to make a photo with my phone.



What you will need:
3 chicken breasts without bones and skin
2 medium tomatoes
250gr of paella rice (or short grain rice)
100gr peas
2 smaller onions
3 cloves garlic
500ml (approx.) chicken broth
saffron
sweet paprika
chilli powder
parsley
olive oil

How you will do it:

1. I started with cutting the chicken into cca. 3 cm big chunks and put them into a marinade with olive oil, chilli and two cloves of garlic. Let the chicken rest for at least an hour so they can absorb a little bit of spiciness. If you don't like chilli and a little bit of  'kick' in your food just marinade the chicken with garlic, salt and pepper.
   
2.  It is better to have everything prepared for your paella in advance, so when your chicken is resting - prepare all the other essentials. Chop the onions and last clove of garlic finely, cut the tomatoes into smaller chunks and heat up the broth (if it's not already on the stove). You need to add about 2teaspoons of paprika and a slightly larger pinch of saffron into the broth so it get a little different flavor. If you feel like your broth is not yellowish enough to colour the whole rice mix - then add a small pinch of turmeric (but don't tell anyone that you did so, psh!)
   
3. Now it's about time to start with the paella! So have everything prepared because you will just be adding the ingredients in a special order.
   
4. Heat the pan and quickly fry the chicken - you don't want to overdo it, just so the meat has a crust and won't let the juices out. Take the meat out and add a little bit of olive oil if needed, now you fry the onions and garlic - don't change the pan or wash it, we want the flavors there!
   
5. After about a 1 minute add the rice and tomatoes - stir it around a little. Then make sure to even out the level of rice all over the pan.
   
6. Now take little after little broth and cover the rice - you want it just slightly to stand in the broth, not so its drowning in it. Turn the heat down, just so it simmer's a little bit.
   
7. Crucial point: you add broth little after little when there isn't enough in the pan, but don't ever pour too much in the pan, the rice needs to absorb the broth and then you can add more. But mostly! Do not stir the rice around- this is and important step when making paella, because paella needs a nice light brown crust at the bottom so that there is a little crunchiness. If you ensure there is just enough liquid then it won't burn no worries.
   
8. It takes about 1.5hour to cook a paella this way - but you do get a great result.
   
9. When the rice starts to get bigger (about 1hour later) you add the chicken pieces so they can finish in the rice mixture.
   
10. At the very end add the peas so they will warm - it's enough to just throw them around a little bit on the pan.
    
11. Add salt if needed and drizzle parsley over the mixture.

Now it's time to eat - enjoy!