COPPERWhat is the national dish of Qatar?
The national dish of Qatar is machboos (also spelled machbous or majboos): rice cooked in the spiced broth of chicken or lamb, with onion, tomato, whole dried limes and the bizar spice mix, served on one platter with the meat on top. It has no legal status, but it is the dish consistently described as Qatar's national dish. It is the Qatari form of kabsa.
Is machboos officially Qatar's national dish?
Qatar has not passed a law on it, but there is no real debate either. Wikipedia's articles on Qatari cuisine, in English and in Arabic, both call machboos the national dish, and so does Wikipedia's list of national dishes.
The same rice dish is eaten all over the Gulf under different names: kabsa in Saudi Arabia, machboos or majboos in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the Emirates. Each country has its own spice blend and habits. In Qatar the blend is bizar.
What is in Qatari machboos?
Wikipedia describes Qatari machboos as rice, meat, onions and tomatoes with spices, traditionally bizar, with garlic, ginger, parsley and hot peppers often added. Our machboos recipe uses:
- 500 g of basmati rice, soaked for 1 hour
- 1.2 kg of chicken (lamb is the other classic)
- Bizar: cumin, coriander, ground dried lime, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper and a pinch of saffron
- 2 dried limes, pierced with a knife
- Onion, garlic, ginger, 2 green chillies and 2 tomatoes, fried into a paste
- A bunch of parsley, chopped over the top
How machboos is made
The onion, garlic, ginger, chillies, tomatoes and 4 tablespoons of bizar are fried until the oil separates. The chicken is turned in this paste until every piece is coated red, then simmered for 40 minutes in a litre of boiling water with the dried limes.
The chicken comes out and goes into a 200 °C oven for 10 minutes so the surface browns. The rule that matters: the rice cooks in that measured broth, never in fresh water. It cooks covered for 15 minutes on the lowest heat, then rests 10 minutes off the heat without the lid being lifted.
Machboos is served on one large platter, the rice heaped up and the meat on top, for everyone at the table to share.
How machboos is served in a Qatari home
Being invited to eat in a Qatari home is considered an honour, and the host is expected to cook far more than the guests can eat: running out of food would be a failure. Traditional meals are eaten seated on the floor, from shared platters, with the hands.
The meal opens with Arabic coffee brewed with cardamom and poured into small cups. Guests usually drink three to five, then gently shake the cup to show they have had enough. Dates, Qatar's national fruit, are offered alongside.
Machboos is also the dish of big occasions. Arabic Wikipedia notes that for feasts it is made with lamb, chicken, fish, shrimp or even desert truffles, and that the rice takes its yellow colour from turmeric. Restaurants serving Qatari food are called matbakh, kitchen, and are concentrated around Souq Waqif, which also has a spice market where bizar is sold.
During Ramadan, families gather at night after iftar and tarawih prayers for Al Ghabqa, a feast of grilled and fried fish, rice cooked with date extract and tharid, followed by luqaimat, asida, dates, tea and coffee.
Machboos, kabsa and the Gulf
Wikipedia notes that kabsa, which is the same dish, is commonly regarded as a national dish in all the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and that its origin is placed in either Saudi Arabia or Yemen. Qatar's version is defined by its bizar and its dried limes.
Kuwait claims machboos too, alongside a fish dish: see the national dish of Kuwait. For the Saudi version, see the national dish of Saudi Arabia.
Other dishes to know from Qatar
Harees is Qatar's festive porridge: cracked wheat soaked overnight, simmered 3 hours with chicken, then beaten until wheat and meat become one smooth paste and covered with ghee. Qataris share harees with neighbours and the less fortunate during Al-Nafla, the gatherings held in Sha'ban, the month before Ramadan. Madrouba is the rice cousin of harees, a porridge of chicken and overcooked rice spiced with turmeric, cumin, cardamom and cloves, served piping hot.
Saloona is the everyday Gulf stew, made with whatever meat and vegetables are in the house. Our version simmers chicken, tomato, potato and carrot for 45 minutes in a thin broth soured with dried limes and spiced with bizar, then ladles it over white rice. The limes are fished out as soon as the broth is sour enough.
All three recipes are on our page about the food of Qatar, and the region is covered in our guide to Middle Eastern food.
The recipes
- Machboos🇶🇦 Qatar · 2 hours and 30 minutes
Harees🇶🇦 Qatar · 15 hours and 30 minutes
Saloona🇶🇦 Qatar · 1 hour and 10 minutes
Questions people ask
Is machboos the same as kabsa?
Yes, essentially. Machboos is the Gulf name for kabsa; the Qatari version is seasoned with the bizar spice mix and dried limes.
How do you pronounce machboos?
Roughly match-BOOS. In Gulf Arabic the k sound becomes ch, which is why it is also spelled majboos or makboos.
What is bizar?
Bizar is the Qatari spice blend used in machboos: black pepper, coriander seed, cinnamon, clove, dried ginger, cardamom, dried red chilli and turmeric, washed, sun-dried and then ground.
Is machboos made with chicken or lamb?
Both are classic. For feasts and big occasions it is also made with fish or shrimp.
What is the national fruit of Qatar?
Dates. Two date palms appear on the Qatari national emblem, and dates are offered with Arabic coffee as a sign of hospitality.
Keep reading
- Traditional food of Qatar: 12 dishes to know
- What is the national dish of Bahrain?
- What is the national dish of Iran?
- What is the national dish of Iraq?
- What is the national dish of Israel?
- What is the national dish of Jordan?