Kabsa

Preparation time  : 1 hour
Cooking time       : 1 hour
Serves                 : 5 members

Description

I come across a new recipe in a foodie group named kabsa. I go through the recipe and find out about all new ingredients used in it. I did store the name of the dish in my mind but after that it was totally a forgotten story. On my pilgrimage trip to macca for Hajj, on the holy day of Arafat that falls on the 9th day of Dhul hajj of the lunar Islamic calendar we were all served a packet each of hot food from the Saudi Arabian king. Eager me wanting to see what it is, found a big piece of meat with rice in it . Some one near me told its camel kabsa that’s similar to our biriyani that the arabs have . We had to have that as our lunch . Me with no hesitation had my share making sure to know how they must have made it. The Kabsa was mildly flavoured and aromatic. The next kabsa was had at Dubai in a restaurant where we were served in a big plate with mutton, chicken, fish and egg all in one kabsa. Five members had to share one plate of kabsa. My nephew Anik who was around seven then took his share on one side and told the rest of us that ” This is my territory and on one can have this ” we all burst out laughing. Back home, I did try to replicate the same but with chicken and egg alone. “The kabsa taste’s exactly like what i had in the Middle East minus the camel meat and the big plate ” was what hubby dear had to say on my Kabsa try. I was all smiles for sure.

Ingredients

Method

• Wash and soak the basmati rice for one hour in water.
• Marinade the chicken pieces with coriander powder, red chilli powder, pepper powder, salt to taste and ginger + garlic paste for 30 minutes.
• Heat a heavy bottomed vessel with butter. Fry the chicken pieces to golden. Remove and keep aside. Divide the chicken fried butter equally into two portions in two separate bowls.
• Heat one portion of the chicken fried butter in a vessel. Add garlic and onions. Sauté to pink and translucent. Top with grated ginger and salt. Sauté for a minute.
• Add chopped tomatoes and ground tomatoes. Sauté until butter floats on top. Top with cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, chilli flakes, red chilli powder, cloves powder, cumin, preserved salted lemon and whole pepper corns. Mix well.
• Add the fried chicken pieces, salt and water. Cook for twenty minutes. Remove the chicken pieces. Place them over an oven prof greased tray. Pour two ladles of chicken cooked gravy on top of chicken pieces.
• Place small cubes of butter on top of the chicken. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for ten minutes. Remove and squeeze lemon juice over the chicken pieces.
• Drain the soaked rice. Heat the renaming other half of the chicken fried butter. Add the strained rice and fry gently making sure the rice does not break.
• Add the chicken cooked water, salt and more water if needed and cook the rice to done. Once cooked add small cubes of butter and fluff up the rice with the help of a fork.
• Spread the cooked rice over a tray. Place the chicken pieces over. Arrange the sliced boiled eggs around. Garnish with fried raisins, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, coriander leaves and lemon rounds. Serve hot with dacos sauce.

Dacos sauce

Ingredients

Method

• Heat oil, add onion and garlic. Fry to golden brown in colour.
• Add all the other ingredients mentioned and sauté for 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool and serve.