Machboos recipe

Emirati rice cooked in the broth of its own chicken, soured by whole dried limes and perfumed with the local bezar spice blend.

1 hour and 50 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 3 dried limes (loomi)
• 2 tbsp bezar spice mix
• 500 g basmati rice
• 1200 g chicken
• 2 onions
• 3 tomatoes
• 4 clove garlic
• 20 g ginger
• 1 stick cinnamon stick
• 6 cardamom pods
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 2 tsp salt

How to make Machboos

1. Pierce 3 dried limes (loomi) several times with a knife. Their sour, smoky bitterness is the signature of machboos; without them you are making plain chicken rice.
2. Rinse 500 g of basmati until the water runs clear, then soak it 30 minutes and drain.
3. Fry 2 sliced onions in 3 tablespoons of ghee for about 10 minutes until deep brown, then add 4 crushed garlic cloves and 20 g of grated ginger.
4. Stir in 2 tablespoons of bezar (cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, dried lime), 1 cinnamon stick and 6 cardamom pods for 1 minute, then add 3 chopped tomatoes and cook them down to a paste.
5. Add 1.2 kg of chicken pieces, the pierced limes and 2 teaspoons of salt, pour in 1 litre of water and simmer 35-40 minutes. Lift out the chicken and keep it warm.
6. Measure the broth to about 850 ml, bring it back to the boil, add the drained rice and cook uncovered until the liquid drops to the level of the grains.
7. Sit the chicken back on top, cover the pot with a cloth and the lid and steam on the lowest heat for 20-25 minutes so the grains stay separate.
8. Crush the softened limes into the rice, fluff it with a fork and serve the chicken on top.

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