Costa Rican Arroz con Pollo (Chicken with Rice)

One of my fond memories of visiting Costa Rica was eating Arroz con Pollo for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yes, I made sure I didn't miss out on my daily dose of this amazing dish! After being dissapointed with the way it tasted in a few restaurants in New York City and in Panama, I decided that enough is enough. I just cannot desperately be on a look out for restaurants that serve this dish. So much so that I've dragged my husband to some not so great joints just because they had this dish on their menu. Only to get dissapointed though! Here's my take on homemade Costa Rican Arroz con Pollo. I couldn't find the exact ingredients, so I had to play around with what I could get here. And to my surprise, it was a great dish and a nice change from the regular Indian chicken with rice. And instead of the regular french fries that I had on the side, I replaced it with sweet potato baked fries! I have to admit that the regular french fries are out for me and the sweet potato ones are in! Will post the recipe for that sometime soon. They are yummy, healthy, sweet and the way I made them were tangy and spicy as well. Lots of flavor packed into one fry.

Ingredients:

For the chicken part: 5 piece chicken drumsticks, 2 tablespoon vegetable oil, 4 cloves garlic, 3 celery sticks, salt, pepper, oregano, 1 tbsp annato seed, paprika to taste

For the Rice: 2 cup rice (any rice preferably long grain rice), 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 2 minced carrots, 1 teaspoon annatto seed, pinch of salt, 4.5 cups chicken stock 

For the Sauce: 1/2 cup onions, finely chopped 1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped 1 tomato, cilantro, 1 small can tomato paste, 4 tbsp goya sofrito, 6 tbsp salsa ranchera to taste

The Chicken: Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium high. Add chicken, salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, cumin, and celery. Turning occasionally until chicken is golden brown evenly. Debone chicken. Skin chicken (optional.) The Rice Heat lard or vegetable oil in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add rice stirring often until rice is slightly brown. Add carrots, annatto, and salt. Add 1 ¼ quart water. Bring mix to a boil over medium high heat. Cover saucepan and simmer until rice is tender. Turn off heat and leave rice in saucepan covered for 10 minutes.