Chicken kabsa - Turn your next dinner into a feast with this Arabian style chicken and rice. Spiced grilled chicken and flavorful rice makes this the ultimate choice for any special occasion. Channel your inner chef, and cook up a storm for friends and family.
When it comes to food, I'm always on the hunt for new inspirations and ideas. I think the ideal way to learn more about food is by exploring new cuisines and cultures. The world of culinary adventure is open right in front of you. You just need to wear your apron and get started.
My inspiration for this recipe comes from one of our trips to Dubai a few years ago. A magnificent modern city that'll mesmerize you with its ultra modern architecture. Not to mention the classic Emirati cuisine. Just phenomenal. And the best part? A wonderful day spent with good old friends. I returned back with a big smile and wonderful memories for a lifetime. Truth to be told, I'm a memory keeper.
Ok, back to the chicken kabsa recipe. This is basically a classic recipe from Saudi Arabia. But, you can find different variations of this dish in the neighbouring countries too. Chicken and rice are cooked in a beautiful spice mix making this one of the best one pot rice recipes ready to entertain you and your friends on any special occasion. To be exact, this kabsa recipe is by far one of my all-time favorite rice recipes.
I used basmati rice in this recipe as it adds a whole new level of flavor to this dish. Of course, you can use any kind of long grain rice, but basmati is my favorite.
For this chicken kabsa recipe, you'll need large pieces of chicken. I cut a large chicken into 6 pieces. We'll be cooking chicken in two stages. First in the pan and then on the grill. And that's the secret of the unbeatable taste of this dish.
There's one important element that makes both the chicken and rice so delicious. Kabsa spice. You can either buy it from Middle Eastern grocery stores, or make your own homemade version. This spice mix is basically a blend of ground cardamom, ground white pepper, saffron, ground cinnamon, ground all spice and dried whole lime powder.
Alright, now to the cooking process. Start out by frying onions, ginger, garlic and green chilies until the onions turn golden brown. We'll add a few whole dried spices to this mixture including bay leaves, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick. Lightly fry them in oil.
Tomatoes are added in two different forms in this chicken kabsa recipe. One, tomato purée. Two, canned diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes. Apart from the kabsa spice mix, you'll also need ground nutmeg, ground black pepper, ground cumin and ground coriander.
Brown chicken in the spices, take them out of the pan, and then grill them separately. This will give the chicken pieces a nice crispy outer layer. When cooking rice, make sure you don't add too much water to prevent it from turning mushy.
And there you go. Done. A scrumptious meal for your next gathering. Why not give it a go?
BEST BIRYANI RECIPES
Chicken Kabsa | Arabian Chicken and Rice | Video
Ingredients
Kabsa spice mix:
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom cardamom powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper white pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon saffron
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon cinnamon powder
- ½ teaspoon ground all spice
- ½ teaspoon dried whole lime powder
Chicken kabsa:
- 2 tablespoon oil or butter
- 3 onions sliced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger ginger paste
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic garlic paste
- 1 green chili
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 6 cloves
- 4 cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tablespoon tomato puree tomato paste
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg nutmeg powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper black pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander coriander powder
- 3 medium carrots thinly sliced
- 200 g canned diced tomatoes or 3 tomatoes chopped
- 2 chicken stock cubes
- 1 and ½ kg whole chicken cut into 6 pieces
- 3 cups basmati rice rinsed
- ¼ cup raisins
- Water
- Salt to taste
- Raisins to garnish (optional)
- Slivered almonds to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- To make kabsa spice mix, combine together cardamom, white pepper, saffron, cinnamon, all spice and lime powder in a bowl. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Add onions, ginger, garlic and green chilies. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onions turn golden brown. Add bay leaves, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick. Fry for a minute.
- Stir in tomato purée. Add ground nutmeg, ground black pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander and kabsa spice. Season with salt. Fry the spices for a minute. Add carrots and diced tomatoes. Stir, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add chicken cubes and chicken pieces. Brown chicken, turning occasionally, for about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan. Set aside.
- Add rice and raisins. Pour in 4 cups water. Season with salt. Bring it to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover with lid, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat grill. Grill chicken for 10-15 minutes or until cooked through. Serve rice with grilled chicken.
Video
Notes
- Whole lime powder is available in Middle Eastern grocery stores
- Kabsa spice mix recipe adapted from allrecipes.com
Nutrition
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Tom Z says
Love this Kabsa. Looks delicious.
Kate Hewitt says
This recipe sounds great and I would love to make it.
Edlira says
I was not sure about the step after the tomatoes. Am I cooking the chicken with the onion tomato mixture? Or am I cooking the chicken in a different pan?
Rose Mary George says
Cooking chicken with tomato mixture first & then removing to grill separately.
Tiffany Djibril says
Yout video shows you adding Kabsa spice but it's not listed on your ingredients. How much do I use?
Rose Mary George says
It's the mixture of spices listed in the recipe ingredients list.
Matt G says
Does "Chicken Cubes" refer to stock cubes?
Rose Mary George says
Yes
Yasmeen Salah says
Yummmmm. Made it today, was scrumptious
ashok says
My family loved it. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.
Mel says
Just came across this recipe.It sounds so MMMMMMM..Off to our local butcher tomorrow..😁😁
Rose Mary George says
Thanks Mel. Hope you'll love it!
Patricia says
Hi, Rose. I'm just happy to find your blog. The dishes (and photos) look amazing. Can't wait to try the Arabian chicken, thanks for sharing the recipe.
best quality rice | Basmati, Non Basmati and IR 64 rice says
It looks really delicious.I would love to try this recipe of chicken kabsa. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Channon says
This was so good. I'm throwing out my old kabsa recipe and replacing it with this! Awesome served with plain yogurt and salad. Thanks!
Abi says
How do you avoid burning the bottom ? When I made the dish - I had a layer of burned at the bottom of the pot. Still came out amazing! But want to adjust for next time
Rose Mary George says
Make sure you use a heavy bottomed pan.
Yasmeen says
I've made this time and again and it's scrumptious. I was just wondering if it is possible to half the recipe. Any suggestions?
Rose Mary George says
Thanks Yasmeen. I have never tried this recipe with half the amount of ingredients. If you try,let me know how it goes. 🙂
Shelli says
I'm finding two kinds of lime powder. One is whole limes ground up, so kinda brown. (Seems to be a middle eastern style packaging.) The other is freeze dried whole limes processed into a finer, less brown powder. (Packaged and promoted as a lime juice alternative.)
Wondering which one should I get m
Rose Mary George says
The Middle Eastern lime. 🙂
karen says
I have whole dried limes from my middle eastern store - I'm assuming I can just grind them up into a fine powder and use, correct?
I tried this dish when I was in Saudi Arabia last month, absolutely delicious! I'm making this recipe today for my family 🙂
Rose Mary George says
Yes, you can