Kabsa-style chicken and rice in one pot

Kabsa (also called machboos or makboos in Gulf Arabic) is a mixed rice dish from the Arabian Peninsula, cooked so that the rice soaks up the spiced chicken stock. This simplified one-pot version for two gives you the taste of a family lunch in a student kitchen.

What kabsa is

• Kabsa is a mixed rice dish usually made with basmati rice, meat, vegetables and spices. It is commonly regarded as a national dish in all GCC countries, and machboos or makboos are its Gulf Arabic names (Wikipedia).
• Typical spices include black pepper, cloves, cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, black lime (loomi), bay leaves and nutmeg. Ready-mixed kabsa spice blends are sold, but they vary.
• Traditional versions often cook a whole chicken or lamb. This lesson uses chicken thighs, which are cheap, hard to dry out and quick to portion for one or two.
• It is often served on a large platter with the meat on top, and Wikipedia notes it is served hot with daqqus, a homemade tomato sauce.

What you need (serves 2)

• 2 to 3 bone-in chicken thighs (or about 300 g boneless thigh), 1 tbsp butter or oil, 1 onion (diced), 1 tomato (diced), 1 tbsp tomato paste.
• Spices: 1 small cinnamon stick, 3 cardamom pods (lightly crushed), 2 cloves, a quarter tsp cumin seeds, half a tsp black pepper, 1 dried lime (pierced with a knife, optional), about 1 tsp salt.
• About 500 ml water, 150 g (about three quarters of a cup) basmati rice, rinsed until the water runs clear.
• To serve: a handful of toasted flaked almonds and raisins, lemon wedges, a cucumber and tomato salad or plain yoghurt.
• Do not wash the raw chicken. Splashing water spreads Campylobacter around your sink and worktops; thorough cooking is what kills it (Southend-on-Sea City Council).

Method

• 1. Melt the butter in a medium heavy pan with a lid. Fry the onion over medium heat until soft and starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato and tomato paste and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until jammy.
• 2. Add the whole spices and dried lime and stir for 30 seconds. Add the chicken, turn it in the mixture, then pour in the water and salt.
• 3. Bring to the boil, cover, lower to a gentle simmer and cook for about 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through (see the check below).
• 4. Lift out the chicken and keep it warm on a plate covered with foil. Measure the stock left in the pan: you want roughly 1.5 times the volume of the rice (about 280 ml for 150 g). Top up with water or pour some off.
• 5. Add the rinsed rice, bring back to a simmer, cover tightly, turn the heat to low and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes without lifting the lid, then rest off the heat for 10 minutes (see Kitchen Skills, Rice and grains).
• 6. Fluff the rice, remove the whole spices if you can find them, pile it on a plate and put the chicken on top. Scatter with almonds and raisins.

Is the chicken cooked?

• Cut into the thickest part next to the bone with a clean knife: it should be steaming hot all the way through with no pink, fleshy meat, and the juices should run clear (FSA).
• With a food thermometer, poultry should reach 74C (165F) (FoodSafety.gov).
• Wash your hands, board and knife with hot soapy water after touching raw chicken, before you touch anything else.
• Optional crispy finish: while the rice cooks, put the cooked chicken under a hot grill for a few minutes to brown the skin.

Leftovers and swaps

• Chill leftovers within an hour if you can, eat within 24 hours because of the rice, and reheat only once until steaming hot (Food Standards Scotland).
• Turn leftover cooked rice into egg-fried rice: stir-fry 2 beaten eggs until just set and remove, then fry spring onions, peas and the cold rice until it starts to crisp, return the egg and season (adapted from the QUB student pantry recipe book).
• Swaps: lamb pieces (simmer much longer, until tender), chickpeas and vegetables for a vegetarian version (shorten step 3 to about 10 minutes), or grated carrot and orange zest for a sweeter version.
• For hosting a bigger group, see the layered rice framework in the Hosting module.