Al Kabsa (Traditional Saudi Rice and Chicken)
My first attempt at cooking Arabic food was al Kabsa. It is now a new favorite and came out really tasty. Accompany with a fresh salad consisting of cucumber, carrot, lettuce, and tomato, ideally dressed with a small amount of lime vinaigrette. On the side, some freshly made pita bread would be good too. Saudis enjoy their Kabsa with Shattah, a spicy sauce. Have fun!
Ingredients
Kabsa Spice mix
- ½ teaspoon saffron
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon dried whole lime powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
Kabsa Dish
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 pound whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
- ¼ cup tomato puree
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 3 carrots, peeled and grated
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground cumin
- 1 pinch ground coriander
- salt , to taste
- ground black pepper, to taste
- 3¼ cup hot water, plus more if needed
- 1 cube chicken bouillon
- 2¼ cups unrinsed basmati rice
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup toasted slivered almonds
Instructions
- In a small dish, mix together saffron, cinnamon, allspice, lime powder, cardamom, and white pepper; leave away.
- Put some butter into a big stockpot or Dutch oven and melt it on medium heat. Sauté the garlic and onion in the butter for 5 minutes or until the onion becomes soft and transparent. After that, entice in the chicken and scrabble it now at high heat for about ten minutes until its outside is light brown. Later, pour tomato puree into it.
- Add the saved spice combination, tinned tomatoes with juice, carrots, cloves, nutmeg, cumin, coriander, salt, and black pepper. After about three minutes of cooking, add the chicken bouillon cube and water.
- After bringing the sauce to a boil, lower the heat and cover the pan. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink and the liquids are clear.
- Add rice and stir gently. For about twenty-five minutes, or until the rice is soft and nearly dry, cover the saucepan and simmer. If needed, add some more hot water and raisins. Cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until rice grains separate.
- Put rice onto a large dish, then top with chicken. Add some toasted, slivered almonds on top.