My Culinary Trial Room

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Kabsa Rice / Mildly flavored Chicken Rice | S/S Recipe

Kabsa - What is it? A family of rice dishes that are served mostly in Saudi Arabia — where it is commonly regarded as a national dish — and the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf. These dishes are mainly made from a mixture of spices, rice (usually long-grain basmati), meat and vegetables. I first came to know about this dish from Divya's easy recipes. Huss dear saw this and insisted to make this rice on Sunday. And I had no other choice. The rice was flavorful with a spicy aroma.

~*What U Need*~
Basmati rice – 1 cup
Chicken – ½ kg or big potatoes
Chopped Onion - 1 cup
Chopped tomatoes - ½ cup
Small Green chilies - 2
Coriander leaves – a bunch
Garlic (chopped finely) – 3 nos
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp
Butter – 2 tsps
Salt to taste

To Grind
Saffron – a pinch
Cardamom – 2
Cinnamon - ½ inch
Garam Masala - ½ tsp
Pepper Corns – ½ tsp

Fried onion for garnishing (optional)

How I Made It:

Add water to the rice and set aside for 15 to 20 min. Grind all the spices mentioned in the ‘To Grind’ section without adding any water.

Heat a pan, add oil / butter.

When hot add the onion and garlic and sauté. Fry till the onions turn brown in colour.

Add the tomatoes and green chilli and sauté

When done, add red chilli powder and coriander leaves and fry.

When done, add the ground spice powder and salt and combine everything. Now add in the chicken pieces and fry… The chicken will start oozing water. Fry well till the water evaporates and the chicken should be half-cooked.

Add the required amount of water and lime juice.

You may then transfer this to the rice cooker or pressure cook for 1 whistle + 2 minutes. When it comes to boil transfer the mixture to rice cooker. When done, transfer to plate and garnish with fried onions. Serve hot with raita / any chicken side dishes.