The most flavorful rice you’ll ever have. This is literally the only Kabsa recipe you’ll ever need.
1 Chicken, skin removed and cut into 4–6 pieces
1.5 cups Sela Basmati Rice
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Onion, finely diced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
3 Tomatoes, finely diced
Jalapeno, to taste
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 1/2 tbsp Kabsa or Machboos Spice
1 tbsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom
1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
1 Cinnamon Stick
3 Whole Cloves
3 Whole Cardamom
1 tsp Chicken Bouillon Powder, or 1 Cube
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 Bay Leaf
1/2–1 tbsp Salt, to taste
3 1/2 Cups Water
Toasted Almonds and Raisins, for serving
Clean your chicken and remove the skin. Dry and set aside. Mix your spices and have them ready.
Roughly chop your onion and then pulse it in a food processor until its finely minced. You can also dice by hand. Set aside.
In the same food processor pulse the roughly chopped tomatoes and set aside. You can also do this by hand.
Mince your garlic and set aside. If you want it spicy either mince your jalapeno or slice it in half to cook with the rice.
I like to make this in my Caraway Home Pot. NOTHING sticks and it’s the perfect size. Heat the vegetable oil and then add in your onions. Saute until translucent. Add the garlic and jalapeno and saute for another minute. Add the tomato paste and the spices and saute for another minute.
Add in the diced tomatoes and mix well. Nestle the chicken into the pasty sauce. Allow it to cook on medium low for a couple minutes. Finally, add the water and bring it to a boil.
Once the mixture comes to a boil, cover it and let it cook for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Don’t overcook the chicken or it will fall apart.
Rinse your rice and add it to the pot once the chicken is cooked. Bring it to a rolling boil, give it a good stir ensuring you scrape the bottom of the pot. Cover the pot and lower the heat to the lowest it’ll go. Cook the rice for 35-45 minutes until it’s fully cooked and no liquid remains.
Flip and serve with toasted almonds and fried raisins. I also serve it with Taqoos Sauce and Yogurt. For the Taqoos, blend 1/2 a chopped onion with Jalapeno to taste, and 2 chopped tomatoes. Add the juice of half a lemon and salt to taste. I use the same food processor I chopped the onions and tomatoes in for the machboos. Enjoy!
I personally use a Machboos Spice my sister got from Qatar. There are many varieties out there. I have also made it with the Ziyad Kebsa Spice that I linked. Go easy on the salt until you see how salted the spice mixture you use is.
Don’t overcook your chicken or it will fall apart when the dish is done.
I factored for extra water since this mixture cooks down a little. Typically each cup of this rice is 1:2 ratio. Make sure to allow the rice to boil well before turning down the heat and covering the pot.
Once it’s done, you may still see a little liquid on the top. Fluff it slightly with the fork and check the middle. That’s what will help you determine if you need to cook it for longer.
Find it online: https://catastrophiccook.com/one-pot-kabsa/