Machboos recipe

Kuwaiti rice and chicken whose sour smoky backbone comes from dried limes, cooked in the chicken broth with baharat.

2 hours and 20 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 3 dried limes
• 2 tbsp baharat
• 500 g basmati rice
• 1500 g whole chicken
• 2 onions
• 3 tomatoes
• 4 clove garlic
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 cardamom pods
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 60 g ghee
• 1 tbsp rose water

How to make Machboos

1. Soak 500 g of basmati rice in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain.
2. Fry 2 sliced onions in 60 g of ghee until deep gold, then add 4 garlic cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 6 cardamom pods, 1 tsp of turmeric and 2 tbsp of baharat.
3. Brown a 1.5 kg chicken cut into pieces, then add 3 chopped tomatoes and 3 dried limes pierced with a fork; the loomi is what makes this machboos and not a generic pilaf.
4. Pour in 1 L of water, salt, cover and simmer 40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Lift the chicken out and put it under a hot grill for 10 to 15 minutes until the skin colours.
6. Measure the broth, top it back up to 1 L, bring it to a boil and stir in the drained rice.
7. Cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 20 minutes, then sprinkle 1 tbsp of rose water over the rice and rest it off the heat for 10 minutes.
8. Pile the rice on a platter, lay the grilled chicken on top and serve with dakkous, a thin cooked tomato sauce.

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