March 17, 2020 | Awake & Dreaming

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

1kg chicken on the bone, skinless and cut to medium pieces

250gms basmati rice

525mls water or stock

3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 heaped tsp cumin seeds

6 cloves

½ tsp black pepper

2” cinnamon stick

2 black cardamom pods

2 large white onions thinly sliced

2 green chillies slit lengthwise

5 garlic cloves

1” ginger

1 heaped tsp coriander powder

Salt to taste

20gms freshly chopped coriander

Juice of 1/2 a lime

Method

In a blender add the garlic and ginger with a splash of water and make a smooth paste. Set aside.
In a heavy bottom sauce pan heat the oil. Add the whole spices letting them sizzle and infuse their flavours for 30 seconds. Now add the white onions and fry on a low heat for 30-35 mins. They will soften and start to colour. Make sure to stir every few minutes making sure it doesn’t stick to the pan. The quantity of onions for this dish is quite a lot so give it time to fry and retain a light brown colour.
At this stage increase the heat to medium, add the green chillies and fry for a few seconds followed by the ginger and garlic paste. Fry for 2 minutes until the raw flavours from the paste cook through.
Now add the chicken pieces along with the coriander powder stir well making sure the spices coat the chicken pieces sealing through for 8-10minutes. Add salt and continue to fry the chicken. Add half the water quantity and bring to a boil simmering with a lid on for 10 minutes. Stir half way through the cooking process. The chicken will nearly be done by this time.
Now add the rice, little fresh coriander and the remaining water. Bring to a boil; simmer for 18-20 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the chicken & rice are tender.
Add the remaining coriander at this stage. Cover the pulao and turn the heat off. Leave to rest for 10minutes to let the rice cool slightly before serving. Serve with some lime juice, salad and raita

There are people in your lives that you class as a “superhero” but those people are just like you! And when we are bombarded with superheroes in pop culture sometimes we can start to think about how to be our own version of a superhero. No doubt some people will think this seems a bit trite, but if you are starting out in life or you just left education, you might want to start thinking about choosing a superhero career! But choosing a career that can help people is an incredibly diverse subject, it’s not just about being a firefighter! With this in mind, what are the best careers out there that can make a difference to other people’s lives?

A Builder

You wouldn’t consider this to be a career that is helpful in a stereotypical sense but it’s probably the closest thing to getting a solid workout in every single day. In the building industry, there are so many different components that will give you a massive physical workout. And we’ve got to remember that with companies like Ranger that provide rig and safety equipment that is providing a diverse service to every component of the building industry, you end up lifting a lot of equipment and getting a proper workout in. Who says you need to be Thor in order to be physically strong? And while you might think that it’s a job that doesn’t result in career progression, it’s actually a very well paid role when you start to work up the ladder!

Care Worker

Being a care worker is, in many ways, a combination of psychiatrist, psychologist, and a bodybuilder! Depending on the area you work in you’ve got to have a massive dose of physical strength on your side! But also when you start to work in supported living or residential care facilities each person has their own unique set of challenges. When you see people at work in care, they tend to be either incredibly caring in nature or are those people that are built like an ox and function on a few hours’ sleep! A care worker position is an incredibly rewarding one but you can’t underestimate just how challenging it is, mentally and physically!

A Teaching Assistant

When you want to make a difference to someone’s life education is one of the most obvious components but being a teaching assistant is somewhere between being a teacher and a care worker. You may accompany students to lectures or you could be working with younger children that struggle with education. It certainly is an eye-opening position and provides numerous rewards. Being a teaching assistant is a perfect stepping stone to being a teacher. If you want to work in education and inspire people it is an ideal starting point.

Choosing any sort of noble career is not just about what you want to get out of it but it’s about understanding how you can make a difference in people’s lives. There are so many different avenues to go down physically, mentally, and emotionally. What are you made of? What sort of superhero do you want to be?