About this recipe
Kabsa is built the other way round from a biryani. The chicken flavours the stock, the stock cooks the rice, and the two only come back together at the end under a grill. Toasting and grinding the spices yourself takes five minutes and makes a noticeable difference to a dish this simple.
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg chicken thighsbone in, skin on
- 20 g fresh corianderchopped
- 40 g sultanas
- 30 g flaked almondstoasted
- 2.5 tsp fine sea salt
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 0.25 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 4 whole cloves
- 6 whole green cardamom pods
- 2 whole dried limespierced
- 2 whole carrotscoarsely grated
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 250 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 25 g Fresh root gingergrated
- 5 whole garlic clovescrushed
- 2 whole onionfinely chopped
- 400 g basmati ricerinsed and soaked 20 minutes
Method
- 1
Toast the cardamom pods, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and peppercorns in a dry pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes until they smell strongly aromatic. Grind to a powder and stir in the cinnamon and nutmeg.
Grind only what you need. This blend loses its edge within a couple of weeks.
- 2
Season the chicken with 1 tsp of the salt. Heat the oil in a large casserole over a high heat and brown the pieces skin side down for 6 minutes, then 3 minutes on the other side. Lift out and set aside.
Leave the skin on for browning even though it softens later. It renders fat that carries the spices through the whole pot.
- 3
Pour off all but about 3 tbsp of the fat. Lower the heat, add the onions and cook for 10 minutes until golden, then the garlic and ginger for a minute.
- 4
Stir in the tomato puree and two thirds of the ground spice blend and fry for 2 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and grated carrot and cook for 5 minutes until thick.
- 5
Return the chicken skin side up, add the pierced dried limes, the remaining salt and 900 ml water. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.