A popular Middle Eastern recipe, Mechboos is a well-loved Arabic dish. It is considered to be one of the national dishes of the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia as well as the entire Gulf. It is a fragrant one-pot rice dish that uses a lot of whole spices to infuse so much flavour. It is easy to make and typically paired with a salad to create a satisfying meal for the whole family. A red-ish base of rice, cooked in the same pot as the chicken to extract all the flavour. Browned bone-in chicken pieces on top and is cooked across all the gulf countries. However there are many variations of how this traditional dish is made by different people. It is almost always preferred to use long grain Basmati rice. The rice is cooked in a broth along with a handful of whole and powdered spices that give it its unique flavour.
INGREDIENTS
| FOR THE MACHBOOS/KABSA | FOR THE CHICKEN |
| 3 cups Aloha Basmati rice, soaked1/3 cup olive oil1 and 1/2 large onions, finely chopped1 cinnamon stick6 cloves1 bay leaf or 1 tsp bay leaf powder1-2 Table spoon tomato paste1 1/2 tsp turmeric powder2 Table spoon butter1-2 green chilies, sliced4-5 cardamom pods1 tsp black peppercorns1 tomato, finely diced1 tsp cumin powder1 tsp paprika1 Table spoon lemon juice (or add a dried lime)Salt and Pepper, to taste | 1 kg chicken (e.g. used skinless thighs and legs), cleaned4 cups water, or as needed2 Table spoon olive oil or softened butter1 Table spoon Chicken seasoning1 Tea spoon Arabic spice/ Baharat mix |
DIRECTIONS TO PREPARE
- Wash and soak the rice in a bowl filled with water for at-least 20minutes or until it is time to cook it. Drain before using.
- In a large pot, add 1/3 cup olive oil and 2 Table spoon butter. Once the butter is melted, add in chopped onion, garlic and chili. Keep the heat on medium and once the onion starts to soften up, add in your whole spices; cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns and bay leaf. If you want to add dried lime, you can do that now as well.
- Mix it all together, then add in the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir again, add the powdered spices; cumin powder, turmeric, paprika and Arabic spice. Combine it well!
- Add your cleaned chicken into the pot and coat it evenly with the masala made. Pour around 4 cups of water, enough to cover the chicken. Follow by adding in lime juice, salt and pepper. Let the water come to a boil. Then, lower the heat and let the chicken simmer for about 20mins with the lid on until it is tender.
- Remove the chicken from the pot, and transfer the soaked (and drained) rice in it. Pour more water in the pot if needed, the rice should be covered with water to about 1/2 an inch more liquid. Bring rice to a boil, and then let it simmer with the lid on, until the rice is well cooked and the water is all absorbed. Once cooked, remove from heat and let it cool a bit before fluffing it up lightly.
- Prepare a Chicken coating by mixing up 2 Table spoon olive oil or butter, chicken seasoning and Arabic spice mix. Coat the cooked chicken well with this spice mix and fry it on a pan with olive oil/butter until it turns golden brown.
- In a large platter/plate, first layer up your rice, add the chicken on top of it, garnish a little with cilantro, roasted cashews and/or pomegranate seeds.
Source: Google, Wikipedia, Google AI