Kabsa

Saudi slow-cooked chicken and rice with cloves, black lime, cardamom and tomato: the national dish of the Arabian Peninsula

Origin: Riyadh & Najd, Saudi Arabia

From the journey of Cloves.

Kabsa is the national dish of Saudi Arabia and, by a reasonable measure, one of the most widely eaten rice dishes in the world: consumed daily across the Arabian Peninsula from Riyadh to Muscat to Kuwait City, served at every family gathering, celebration, and communal meal, and made in quantities measured in kilograms at the weddings and hospitality occasions that define Arab social life. It is a dish of the Najd, the central Arabian plateau, where the Bedouin tradition of slow-cooking meat over fire in the desert, a tradition of radical simplicity constrained by scarcity, was transformed by the spice trade routes that ran through Arabia for two millennia. The Arab traders who dominated the Indian Ocean clove trade from roughly 800 CE to 1500 CE were not merely moving the spice: they were using it. Whole cloves, black cardamom, dried black lime (loomi), cinnamon, and the distinctive blend of kabsa spices tell the story of a culture that had direct, sustained access to every spice on earth and developed a cuisine that uses them with architectural confidence. The kabsa spice blend, called kabsa spice or bzar in some Gulf dialects, varies by household and region, but the structural presence of cloves, providing warmth, depth, and a faintly bitter undertone that grounds the fragrance of the cardamom and rose water, is constant. The dish is served on an enormous communal platter, meat perched on top of the mounded rice, eaten with the right hand, finished with a drizzle of ghee and a scatter of toasted almonds and raisins.

Ingredients

Chicken

1.5 kg whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (or 6 bone-in chicken thighs)
3 tbsp neutral oil or ghee
2 large onions, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
400 g tinned whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand

Spices

2 dried black limes (loomi), pierced several times with a skewer
6 whole cloves
4 whole green cardamom pods, lightly cracked
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole black peppercorns
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
0.5 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fine sea salt

Rice

500 g basmati rice, washed and soaked in cold water for 30 minutes then drained
900 ml the chicken cooking stock (see method)
2 tbsp rose water

To Serve

50 g blanched almonds, toasted golden in butter
50 g raisins or sultanas, plumped in warm water
fresh coriander and lemon wedges, to serve

Method

Heat the oil or ghee in a large, heavy-based pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and brown on all sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.
In the same pot, reduce heat to medium and fry the onions until deeply golden, 12–15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until thickened.
Return the chicken to the pot. Add the black limes, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, peppercorns, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and salt. Pour in enough water to cover the chicken by 4 cm (approximately 1.2 litres). Bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer, and cook covered for 45–50 minutes until the chicken is very tender and the stock is richly flavoured.
Remove the chicken pieces and set aside. Strain the stock: you need 900ml. Discard the whole spices but keep the tomato and onion solids if you prefer a thicker stock. Return the strained stock to the pot and bring to the boil.
Add the drained rice and rose water to the boiling stock. Stir once, reduce to the lowest heat, cover tightly and cook for 18 minutes until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Remove from heat and steam, covered, for 10 minutes.
To serve: spread the rice on a large platter. Arrange the chicken pieces on top. Scatter with toasted almonds and plumped raisins. Drizzle with a little more ghee if desired. Serve with fresh coriander, lemon wedges, and yoghurt alongside.

Notes

Kabsa is traditionally made with lamb (kabsa lahm) as well as chicken, use the same method with 1.5 kg of bone-in lamb shoulder, increasing the initial braise to 90 minutes. Black limes (loomi or dried limes) are the ingredient most likely to be unavailable, substitute with a tablespoon of tamarind paste dissolved in 100ml warm water, or the juice and zest of 1 lime added at the very end. The rose water is essential and is not a flavour to omit: it perfumes the finished rice with a floral note that defines the dish's character.

The Gastrographer

Name: Kabsa
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Saudi Arabia
Ingredients: 1.5 kg whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (or 6 bone-in chicken thighs); 3 tbsp neutral oil or ghee; 2 large onions, finely diced; 6 cloves garlic, minced; 400 g tinned whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand; 2 dried black limes (loomi), pierced several times with a skewer; 6 whole cloves; 4 whole green cardamom pods, lightly cracked; 1 cinnamon stick; 4 whole black peppercorns; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp ground coriander; 0.5 tsp ground turmeric; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 500 g basmati rice, washed and soaked in cold water for 30 minutes then drained; 900 ml the chicken cooking stock (see method); 2 tbsp rose water; 50 g blanched almonds, toasted golden in butter; 50 g raisins or sultanas, plumped in warm water; fresh coriander and lemon wedges, to serve

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control