Bahraini chicken machboos is an Arabic meat and rice dish cooked in a spiced broth with tomatoes and topped with roasted chicken and nuts.
I didn't know about machboos until my mother-in-law asked me if I had prepared machboos rubyan for her son. 🤐 Rubyan is Arabic for prawns and the only seafood F consumes but I rarely buy them. After I moved to Abu Dhabi, I decided to try making his family's favourite machboos with chicken.
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A quick search on the net got me to Um Safia's page on Food. com (which is no longer the same now) and made her Traditional Bahraini Chicken Macbhoos. It was the first time I tried machboos and F loved it but he also mentioned it tastes different from his mom's. I made it a few times by now and shared it on Stories - it was a hit among you all! Thank you!
But recently, I asked my mil (umma) for the recipe her sons grew up having while in Bahrain. For a time like this lockdown due to covid19, a whiff of nostalgia is a hug in the tummy. I must say her recipe is almost the same except that she doesn't use any spice blend!
What is the difference between Kabsa and Majboos?
Kabsa considered the national dish of Saudi Arabia is a rice and meat dish served with fried raisins and almonds along with yoghurt sauce and green salads for the side. The name is derived from the word kabs, meaning "press" which is the technique used in cooking Kabsa.
The variations of Saudi Kabsah are popular in the neighbouring Gulf States of the Arabian peninsula including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait as Machboos, meaning "to be engaged".
So the difference between Kabsa and Majboos is in the type of spice blend used and the addition of almonds and raisins. You all must be aware of Kabsah spice mix, and Baharat spice mix, as they are available in every supermarket here. But I have not seen Bezar spice mix being sold! 🤔
In the pic below, I did add some fried almonds because I had them but it does not usually feature in Bahrain Machboos.
How to make Bahraini chicken machboos?
Chicken Machboos is the national dish of Bahrain which means it is a favourite of the entire country! Once you make this chicken machboos recipe you will give our biryanis a rest. Trust me! This Arabic chicken dish is so easy to put together for a Friday lunch that your legs will thank you and you can have quality time with family. I have to say the same for my Kacchi Biryani recipe too 😋 But I highly recommend not to skip Loomi, the black dried lime! It imparts a flavour that is hard to substitute.
Here is the step by step recipe for Chicken Machboos
Marinate the chicken with all the spice powders and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. bezar spice mix or Baharat, turmeric powder, cumin powder, cardamom powder and cinnamon powder.
Wash and soak the rice for 30 mins or as per packet instruction.
Heat butter or ghee in a deep wide pot on medium flame. Add the cloves, the finely diced onion, green chillies, and dried lime and saute for a minute. Next, add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute.
Add the marinated chicken along with the chopped tomato. Cook on high until all of the chicken pieces turn white. (~5mins) Meanwhile, prepare hot water.
Pour the hot water and salt to taste. Bring this to a boil. Cover and cook on medium flame until the chicken is cooked through. (~10mins)
Remove the cooked chicken pieces and keep them aside.
Add a fistful of chopped coriander leaves and lime/lemon juice.
Dump the soaked rice and salt to taste.
Bring this to boil on a high flame until you can see the grains on the surface. Reduce the flame to the lowest. Slide a heat diffuser or flat pan underneath. Cover the pot with foil and then the lid. Let it cook for another 15 mins.
Meanwhile, roast the cooked chicken on the stovetop or oven with some oil and butter.
You may place back the roasted chicken on top of the rice and serve or transfer the rice to a platter and place the roasted chicken over it. Serve with salad and laban or yoghurt.
📖 Recipe Card
Bahraini Chicken Machboos
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 3 chicken whole legs or one 700gms chicken
- 1 teaspoon Bezar spice mix or Baharat spice mix
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
For Chicken Machboos
- 1 tablespoon ghee or butter
- 3 cloves
- 1 medium-sized red onion
- 2 to 5 green chillies
- 1 loomi dried black lime
- 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
- 1 large tomato chopped roughly
- salt to taste
- 2 cups hot water
- fresh coriander leaves
- juice of half a lime
- 1 cup basmati rice
- butter to roast the cooked chicken
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken with all the spice powders (bezar, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and cardamom) and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes or as per packet instruction.
- Heat butter or ghee in a deep wide pot on medium flame.
- Add the cloves, the finely diced onion, green chillies, dried lime and saute for a minute.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute.
- Add the marinated chicken along with the chopped tomato. Cook on high until all of the chicken pieces turn white. (~5mins) Meanwhile, prepare hot water.
- Add the hot water and salt to taste. Bring this to a boil.
- Cover and cook on medium flame until the chicken is cooked through. (~10mins)
- Remove the cooked chicken pieces and keep them aside.
- Add a fistful of chopped coriander leaves and lime or lemon juice.
- Stir in the soaked rice and salt to taste. Bring this to boil on a high flame until you can see the grains on the surface.
- Reduce the flame to the lowest. Slide a heat diffuser or flat pan underneath, cover the pot with foil and then the lid. Let it cook for another 8 to 10 minutes.
- Switch off and open to carefully stir the bottom rice to the top and cover again. Let it sit for another 5 to 8 minutes before you can serve.
- Meanwhile, roast the cooked chicken on the stovetop or oven with some butter. You may place back the roasted chicken on top of the rice and serve or transfer the rice to a platter and place the roasted chicken over it.
- Serve with salad and laban or yoghurt (some pappadams won't hurt :-))
Farah says
Tried this recipe
Easy, quick and flavourful everyone loved it 😊
Famidha Ashraf says
Hi Jill, I have used sumac in the pics here. You may just use salt and fresh parsley. Another variation would be grated garlic and salt. Happy cooking!
Jill says
Hello! I am trying out your recipe next week. Can you tell me what spice you put in the yogurt to accompany this dish?