Kabsa (Saudi Arabian Spiced Chicken and Rice)

About This Recipe

Kabsa (كبسة) is the national dish of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states — an aromatic one-pot of meat and rice that represents the Bedouin cooking tradition's most celebrated expression. The dish is the Gulf equivalent of India's biryani or Iran's polo: rice cooked in spiced meat broth until fluffy and fragrant, topped with the meat and a garnish of nuts, raisins, and dried fruit. What makes kabsa distinctive and immediately recognisable is its spice mixture, which typically includes dried limes (loomi, or black limes), cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves, and a specific proprietary blend called baharat, which varies by family and region but always contains warm, dark spices. Dried limes — Omani loomi that have been dried in the sun until black and rattling — are added whole to the broth and provide a distinctive sour, smoky, tangy backdrop that is impossible to replicate with any other ingredient. The rice is long-grain basmati or Egyptian rice, cooked to complete absorption in the spiced chicken broth, and the whole dish is heaped onto a massive communal tray at the centre of the table, garnished with golden raisins, fried almonds, and pine nuts.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1 wholechicken(about 1.5kg, jointed into pieces)
• 2 cupslong-grain basmati rice(washed and soaked 30 min)
• 2 mediumonions(finely chopped)
• 4 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 canchopped tomatoes(400g)
• 3 wholedried limes (loomi)(pierced with a knife)
• 4 wholecardamom pods(crushed)
• 2 wholecinnamon sticks
• 4 wholecloves
• 2 wholebay leaves
• 1 tspground coriander
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1/2 tspturmeric
• 1/4 tspsaffron(bloomed in 3 tbsp warm water)
• 1 tspbaharat spice blend
• 2 tspsalt
• 3 tbspvegetable oil
• 50 galmonds and pine nuts(fried in butter)
• 50 ggolden raisins

Instructions

1. 1

   Brown the chicken

   Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken pieces in batches until golden on all sides. Remove and set aside.

2. 2

   Build the aromatic base

   In the same pot, fry the onions until golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and fry 1 minute. Add chopped tomatoes, dried limes, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, cloves, bay leaves, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, baharat, and salt. Stir well and cook 5 minutes.

3. 3

   Braise the chicken

   Return the chicken to the pot. Add 4 cups water to just cover. Bring to a boil, skim any foam, then simmer covered for 35–40 minutes until the chicken is completely tender. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside. Strain and reserve the broth.

4. 4

   Cook the rice

   Measure 3.5 cups of the strained chicken broth into a pot. Add the bloomed saffron and drained rice. Bring to a boil, stir once, then cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 18 minutes. Remove from heat and rest covered 10 minutes.

   The dried limes impart a distinctive sour-smoky flavour to the broth — do not discard them before straining.

5. 5

   Fry the nuts and raisins

   In a small pan, fry almonds and pine nuts in butter until golden. Add raisins and fry 30 seconds. Drain on paper towels.

6. 6

   Assemble and serve

   Mound the saffron rice on a large serving platter. Arrange the chicken pieces on top. Scatter fried nuts and raisins generously over everything. Serve with a simple green salad and yogurt.

Variations

• •

  Lamb kabsa: substitute bone-in lamb pieces and increase braise time to 1.5 hours.

• •

  Seafood kabsa: use large prawns or whole fish — reduce the braise time dramatically (prawns take only 5 minutes).

Storage

Kabsa keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat rice with a splash of water in a covered pan. The broth from cooking freezes well and can be used for future rice dishes.

Frequently Asked Questions